


Legacies: A New Team

by Kihonne



Series: Heroes in the Making: An Elite Force [16]
Category: Lab Rats (TV 2012), Lab Rats: Elite Force (TV), Mighty Med
Genre: Bionic Superhumans, F/M, High School, Kid Fic, New Team, Next Generation, Returning Enemies, Set in 2038/2039, Superheroes, Team as Family, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2020-01-06 00:54:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 126,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18377615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kihonne/pseuds/Kihonne
Summary: When the original members of the Elite Force are called away to another planet for a special mission, Centium City is left undefended for the first time in 20 years. So, when enemies both old and new start to arise, the last remaining member of the Elite Force must train their children to face this threat. But with secrets being kept on both sides, how can they know who to trust?





	1. New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own mighty med, lab rats, or the elite force, or anything from the original TV shows. I only own this story, Calla, Dani, Alivia, any other OCs present, and anything else you don't recognize.

**Naomi's POV**

"Excuse me! Can I get through?" I called, keeping my eyes on the sky as I pushed through the crowd that had gathered in front of the Centium City National Bank. I could just barely see a flash of dark blue in the sky above me, and I knew I'd need to get closer.

Eventually, I managed to get to the police barriers, which was as close as I was going to get to the fight. But it was close enough. I raised my camera to my eyes, focusing it on Aftershock and Saturn as they fought. Hadn't Saturn learned better than to try and rob banks in Centium City? Even with the technology he kept managing to procure, Aftershock was more than a match for him. The only thing he managed to do was annoy Calla, who couldn't figure out which one of her competitors he was stealing / buying from.

I smiled, snapping a couple of quick shots as Aftershock landed a heavy blow to Saturn's face, the trench-coated criminal stumbling back and nearly dropping his blaster. He raised it towards Aftershock and pulled the trigger, but the green plasma-like blast that erupted from it didn't do the slightest of damage to the hero. Aftershock smirked confidently, stepping forward against the blast before lunging forward at the last second to try and pull the weapon out of his enemy's hands. Unfortunately, Saturn was ready for it, and at the last minute, Saturn turned the weapon, using it to cut through a light post. It started to topple, leaning heavily towards the crowd.

Aftershock flew forward, catching the light pole before it could crush the people underneath, and I took another picture. Unfortunately, even though he managed to save about a dozen people, it did give Saturn the chance to escape. Aftershock dropped the light pole on the ground next to him, his face searching the crowd desperately. When he couldn't catch sight of where his archnemesis had gone, his gaze wandered the crowd again, this time stopping when he saw me.

**Xxx**

"I can't believe I let him get away." Ben muttered as we waited for the elevator to stop at my floor. He had this ticked off scowl on his face, his blonde hair askew from the fight.

"You saved, like, ten people." I reminded him, punching his shoulder playfully. He gave me a look. "Yes, he got away, and that's not great, but I'm pretty sure those people are really glad you chose to save them. And you'll get him again."

"Yeah, I guess." He sighed. I rolled my eyes; he always got so annoyed with himself if a bad guy got away.

"This is your thing, Benji. You put him in jail, he gets away, he tries to steal something, you fight, eventually he ends up back in jail. This is just making it a little more interesting than normal." I reasoned as the elevator stopped. Ben gestured for me to exit first and followed me down the hall towards the penthouse.

"So, did you get enough pictures for your assignment?" He asked. I shrugged.

"I think so," I'd taken almost a dozen photos of the fight, but I hadn't double checked them for quality. This antique camera that my dad had modified for me took some pretty good photos, but I couldn't exactly check to be sure until I'd developed them, "but I won't know until I develop them and finish my article. If I need more, I'll let you know." I smirked. "You could model for me." I teased, opening the door to the penthouse.

"Who's going to model for you?" Chase questioned, looking up from the holoscreen in front of him. He was sitting on the couch, working on his computer.

"Benji." I smirked, dropping my bag by the couch.

"No, I'm not." Ben added quickly. Chase smirked, shaking his head as he looked back at his work. Ben carefully placed his bag next to mine, quickly zipping it up when one of his suit's gloves nearly fell out.

"We could have stopped by your place to drop that off." I reminded him for the third time. He shrugged.

"My place is a mess. It's not ready for visitors." He explained.

"What are you, the queen? It doesn't have to be nice – it's just me." I commented, walking past them both on the way to the kitchen.

"Dinner's in half an hour." Chase reminded me. I paused.

"What is Calla picking up?" I inquired. Chase always preferred a healthy, home-cooked meal, but Calla had convinced him to have take-out on Fridays.

"Italian. Ben, you sticking around for dinner?" He asked, glancing up before typing something into the portable keyboard on his lap.

"I don't want to impose…" He started.

"There'll be plenty of food to go around. You can have Emily's share." Chase offered. I frowned.

"And we're starving her why?" I questioned. Chase rolled his eyes, pressing a button on the keyboard to turn off the holoscreen.

"She's helping Noah move into his dorm." He explained. I nodded, remembering that my nephew was starting at Centium City University this week. I'd been surprised to hear that he had chosen to live in dorms instead of accepting the Calla and Chase's offer to house the kid for free (an offer I'd accepted back when I first chose to go to school here), but I figured it was probably an independence thing.

"She is?" Ben seemed surprised. I looked at him, confused by his reaction. "It's just…I offered to help and he turned me down."

"Might have been a tech thing. Bree mentioned that he brought his holo-TV with him." Chase mentioned.

**Emily's POV**

I tapped my foot in time with the music blasting in my ears, completely focused on the tiny piece of technology that was sitting in a stand in front of me. I glanced between it and my holo-screen, adjusting where the device would send its electrical charges, particularly the ones that would send a synthesized version of adrenaline into the system.

It was only when a glass bottle was dangled in front of my eyes did I look up. I slowly removed my headphones, slightly annoyed with the disturbance. "You almost done?" Noah asked, handing me the bottle of cherry cola.

"You can't rush perfection." I told him. My cousin chuckled.

"Yeah, but can I rush you?" He questioned. He was joking, I thought, but I still leaned back in my chair to look at him.

"Maybe I should call my mom, get her to come pick me up." I said innocently, taking a sip from my drink. "I think she'd be quite interested in what's going on."

"No rushing, got it." Noah sat down across from me, raising his hands in surrender, even though his honey brown eyes twinkled in amusement. I smirked and turned back to my work.

"I'm almost done. I just have to finish putting in these safety measures." I assured him, concentrating on the computer as I reattached the wires. I looked away from the computer, keeping my mind concentrated on moving the wires. "You know they're going to be pissed, don't you?"

"At which part?" Noah responded, his tone telling me that he clearly knew that by getting me to do this, he was digging his grave even deeper than he already had. Noah was normally good at keeping out of trouble, but man, when he screwed up, he did so royally, with no turning back. My cousin took the phrase 'go big or go home' a little too seriously if you asked me.

"All of it. And they're not just going to be mad at you." I added with a shrug. "I'm going to get in enough trouble for keeping secrets, let alone for creating this masterpiece."

"I'm eighteen, I can do what I want. This is my choice." He reasoned. I looked at him. "And if you get in trouble, just deny everything. As far as anyone's concerned, this was all me."

"They're never going to believe that." As soon as I was done with the wiring, I picked the tiny little chip up between my fingers, feeling it begin to cool down. "No one's ever going to believe that you were able to build, program, and insert your own bionic chip without help."

"I'll figure it out." Noah insisted. I rolled my eyes, already making a mental note to go pick up a couple of new books to read when Noah got me grounded and my tech got taken away. "Is it done? Now what?"

"Turn around." I motioned with my finger. He grinned and turned around in his seat. I brushed his annoyingly long hair out of the way – no one needed this much hair, it was practically down to his shoulders – so that I would have a clear section of the neck. The last thing we wanted was for a piece of hair to get in the way. I grabbed a baby-wipe out of my bag and wiped down the skin. I felt Noah shiver at the sudden cold sensation at the back of his neck.

"Wait, is this going to hurt?" He questioned as I placed the chip against his neck.

"Yes." I responded simply before sending a signal to the chip with a twitch of my fingers. The chip quickly dissolved into his skin and I felt my cousin go rigid with pain as it re-emerged on his spinal column. I didn't let up, even though I could tell that Noah was hurting a lot, and instead chose to focus on controlling the chip with my mind. I had it wrap its wires around his nerves, causing him more pain, but successfully connecting the chip to his brain. "Done."

"Gah!" Noah coughed in pain, dropping to his knees. I watched him as he slowly regained his composure, his left hand hovering over the back of his neck, wanting to hold the source of the pain, but unsure if it would hurt him further.

"You can touch if you want. It won't do anything." I told him, amused.

"Are you done?" He demanded, as if he hadn't been the one who asked me to do this in the first place. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, I'm finished. Don't be a baby." I teased. He sent me a look, sitting back on his heels. "Okay, so it's going to take a couple of hours for it to integrate fully with your system, but after that, you're good to go."

"After that, I'm bionic?" He checked. I nodded.

"Do not make me regret this." I warned. He grinned, rubbing his neck.

"I won't." He promised. I nodded, then looked around.

"So, you got anything to eat around here?" I questioned. He gave me a look. "Hey, Mom and Dad think I'm helping you move into a dorm. The least you can do is pay me in food."

**Naomi's POV**

"Hey." I greeted as I stepped out of the hyperlift, not surprised to see Calla and Emily down there. My sister-in-law was at the cyber computer, scanning through some schematics for a new product, while Emily was on the ground by one of the rock walls, looking at the screen of her holo-computer while keeping her hands free to give Helix a belly rub. The white and brown Cavalier Poodle mix was snoozing happily in her lap, his muzzle lying on her leg. I smirked in amusement as Emily didn't take her hands off her beloved dog, using her technokinesis to complete her work without the use of her hands. "How was Noah's?"

"Good. Had pizza." Emily replied shortly, keeping her eyes focused on the screen. The electric blue orbs scanned the page quickly as she inputted the correct variables, her tongue sticking out slightly in concentration. Her brown hair was tied up in a messy bun, keeping the strands out of her face.

"You finish your paper?" Calla asked, glancing at me before looking back at the screen.

"Yeah." I frowned, not recognizing the schematics on her holoscreen. "What're you working on?"

"The new hoverboard designs. We're finally out of the theoretical phase and into prototypes." Calla smiled at the idea as she reached upwards to adjust one of the settings on the virtual program of the device.

"Hey, we can test those out with you, right?" Emily asked, looking up. Calla gave her a look. "I'll wash dishes for a week."

"It's a deal. Hey, listen, I want everyone home for dinner tomorrow, alright?" She mentioned. Emily and I exchanged looks – normally, everyone was home for dinner, but Calla rarely made that a rule or anything. "Your dad and I need to talk to you guys about something."

"Is everything alright?" Emily frowned, curious. Calla nodded and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, of course." Suddenly, her Davenwatch beeped. Calla tapped a button on the side of it. "Calla Davenport…oh, hey Skylar."

Emily and I exchanged looks – the last I'd heard, Skylar Storm was still on Caldera, far out of comm's reach. Calla nodded thoughtfully, listening.

"What's up?" She asked, frowning. She paused for a moment as she listened, then glanced at us. "Hold on, give me a sec."

Calla quickly shut off her holoscreen and headed for the hyperlift, leaving us alone in Mission Command. As soon as she was gone, Emily and I exchanged looks.

"MISS, mind giving us a listen?" I requested, curious. Skylar Storm never called just to chat – this must be interesting.

" _Apologizes, Miss Naomi, but Miss Calla has instructed me not to allow you access to her or Mister Chase's comms anymore."_  The AI replied, much to my and my niece's disappointment.  _"Mister Chase was not very happy after the Johanson incident."_

I frowned, not recalling that call, but Emily smiled guiltily. "I may have used a quote from that call in my report on Centium City politics." She admitted. I sighed.

"I wonder what they're talking about." I hummed, thinking aloud. She shrugged and went back to petting her dog.

**Bree's POV**

"No, you and Nyssa can't go night surfing." Dani was the only one in the main conference room when Jaden and I got there. She was sitting at the table, pinching the bridge of her nose as she spoke on the comms with someone. "I don't care if it sounds fun, it's dangerous. Also – and this really should have occurred to you, honey –  _you don't know how to surf_."

She waited as her kid protested to her decision, face twisting in a way where I could tell she was trying to decide between crying and laughing. "No, I don't think night is a good time to learn something like that…the answer is no, Kameron…" She sighed deeply. "We'll be home some time tomorrow. Until then, stay in the headquarters, alright? And listen to your Aunt Alivia."

After a moment, she hung up, looking deeply exhausted. "So, night surfing?" I asked. She sighed.

"Nyssa is such a bad influence." She muttered as Kaz and Oliver walked into the room.

"Hey, Kam just texted me asking if he could night surfing?" Kaz asked questioningly as they came in. "Did I miss the part where he learned day surfing?"

"I already told him no." Dani assured him. She smiled at her brother. "Hey Ollie."

"Why'd Skylar want us all to meet?" Jaden questioned, taking a seat across from Dani. "Calla was kinda vague over the comms."

"Skylar didn't give her much to go on, to be fair." Chase commented, striding in, hands in his pockets. He nodded at us. "Hey guys."

"She'll explain everything when she's done talking to Jessica and Director DeCook." Oliver assured us. I frowned, noticing the stress lines in his face. This couldn't be good, whatever it was.

As if on cue, Skylar and Calla walked in. "Speak of the devil." Kaz clapped his hands together, taking a seat between Oliver and Dani.

"I'm glad that Miles let us use the S.H.I.R.T. conference room to talk." Cala commented, sitting down. "We didn't want the kids to overhear."

"I'm sure they wouldn't eavesdrop." I commented. Chase snorted in amusement.

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" He muttered. I raised an eyebrow at that, but he didn't elaborate.

"Alright Skylar, we're all here. What's going on?" Jaden questioned, leaning back in his chair as the rest of us all took our seats until Skylar was the only one standing.

"Alright. Have you guys ever heard of Venusia?" Skylar questioned, leaning on the table. I frowned, confused, but Kaz spoke up quickly.

"Wait that's the planet with the evil bugs, right?" He questioned. Dani glanced at us.

"It's a planet of shapeshifters. Remember Roddiseus? His grandmother was from the planet." She explained. She looked at Skylar. "That's in your galaxy, right? Not the Milky Way?"

"Yeah, it's about 34 million miles from Caldera's orbit." She explained.

"About the same distance from Earth to Mars." Chase supplied for the rest of us. Skylar nodded.

"For the past couple of years, they've been at war with the Calderans." Oliver explained.

"Why?" I asked, frowning.

"Resources, mostly. We've been trying to create a peace treaty with them, but they've resisted the idea. Until now." Skylar explained. "We've finally gotten them to agree to sit down and talk this all out."

"That's great. But, then, why do you need our help?" Calla questioned.

"They want someone to mediate the meeting. And since the Elite Force are famous for stopping Bosetti, who apparently pissed off people from various planets, they want us to be the mediators."

"Us though?" Jaden repeated. "They couldn't have picked anyone else?"

"They insist that since we stopped the original Mr. Terror, who'd already tried to steal resources from their planet, we're the best choice for the job. Something about how we'd be more likely to be sympathetic to both causes and less bias than if either planet chose one of their people to mediate."

"Where would you be fitting into this?" Kaz questioned, glancing at Skylar.

"I'd be on the Calderan side, not a mediator." She explained. Chase nodded.

"Yeah, okay. Sure. We can help." He agreed.

"Don't agree to fast, man." Oliver cautioned. Skylar sighed.

"Venusia has a forcefield around their planet preventing anyone from just teleporting in. We'd have to fly in, by spaceship, not geoleap like you were probably thinking." She licked her lips before continuing. "Even with how advanced the technology is on Davenships, it would still take four months to get there."

"Four months?" I repeated, staring at her. Okay, this wasn't some little day trip she was talking about. "That's at least eight months off of Earth, just travelling there and back. We can't just leave for the amount of time."

"I know." Skylar's voice was solemn. "I know it's a lot to ask. But people are dying, guys. My people. And if this war continues, I can't say for sure which side will win."

We all went quiet, exchanging looks. "I mean, I could ask Johnny to handle the restaurant while we're gone. He'd understand." Jaden said slowly, glancing at me. "Noah's in Centium City, and we just dropped Justine off at her boarding school this morning…It's not like we'd be seeing them anyway. We'd get back just before the end of Noah's second semester."

"I suppose…" I trailed off, still a little apprehensive at leaving. He was right though – with the kids away from school, and with my fame as a bionic hero giving me the perfect excuse to take a sabbatical from work, it would be possible. Still…

"We can't just drop everything, Skylar." Chase sighed heavily. I could see the conflict on his face, how his instincts to help people were fighting with his desire to stay on Earth. "We have families, children. Careers. I want to help, but…"

"I know. But I had to ask." Skylar insisted. "If you can't come, we'll figure it out. I just…I needed to exhaust every option."

"Guys, eight months is a lot to ask, but isn't it worth it if we can end a war?" Oliver pressed. He looked at all of us. "We have a daughter too, and this is her home we're talking about."

"We could…Look, I can't go, I'm sorry." Calla looked around, a regretful look on her face. "Davenport Industries is preparing for its biggest product launch since Douglas and Davenport first opened its doors, and I can't leave in the middle of that. There's so much work to be done, and Leo's already doing so much – if I have to delegate all my stuff to him while we're gone on top of what he's already doing, he'll drown in it. And, if I'm being frank, I'm not too keen on going to a planet full of 'evil bugs'." She laughed lightly before turning serious again. "But if you guys decide to go, we can take Sera and the twins in. You know we have the room, and it would keep them from getting into trouble. They could go to school with Charlotte and Emily."

"Thank you, Calla." Skylar gave her a friend an appreciative smile. Dani looked at her husband hesitantly.

"I mean, Liv would be okay with us leaving to do this…" She began. "The kids would understand…"

"Actually, they'd want to come with." Kaz realized with a chuckle. He sighed and looked at Skylar. "We're in." He assured her before glancing at Chase and Calla. "We'll take you up on that offer to watch them – the last thing we want is Nyssa getting them into trouble while we're gone. Though…uh, Kam might want to bring his new pet, Josh."

"That's fine, so long as he doesn't cause trouble with Helix." Calla assured them. "What kind of animal is he?"

Dani and Kaz exchanged looks. "He's a guinea pig. He's super cute." Dani told her, smiling brightly. Calla nodded.

"Yeah, no problem." She agreed.

"I…I guess I'm in too." Chase smiled at the others. I nodded in agreement, making my decision. It wouldn't be easy, leaving for this long, but it wouldn't be so bad with my friends there. Skylar's face broke into a relieved smile.

"Thank you, guys. Seriously, thank you." She told us, tone light as if a weight had just been lifted off her shoulders.

**Naomi's POV**

"This isn't fair." Emily protested, following her father down the stairs as he carried his mission bag. She'd been against the mission idea from the start, trying to talk him out of it for the past three days. "Why can't Oliver just do the mediation himself? He used to be part of the Elite Force."

"They've requested more than one mediator to get the least amount of bias as possible, and Oliver is married to a Calderan. That gives them reason to think he's biased and on their side rather than looking for a peaceful compromise." Chase said patiently.

"You got any fours?" Charlotte asked, glancing at me from across the counter. Her hair was braided today, the thick rope of black hair falling over her left shoulder.

"Go fish." I replied, and she sighed, picking up a card.

"Honey, I'll be home before you know it." Chase promised his daughter as he dropped his bags at the front door. Emily crossed her arms, upset.

"No, you'll be back in eight months. That's, like, nearly 250 days. That's practically forever." The seventeen-year-old girl insisted, one hand reading up to brush a strand of dark brown hair from her face. "This isn't fair, and I'm not okay with this."

"I know you aren't." Chase put a hand on her shoulder. "But sometimes doing the right thing also means doing the hard thing. Skylar needs help, and if our friends need help…"

"Then we help." Emily sighed, looking down. Chase smiled proudly at her, and kissed her on the top of her head.

"It won't be forever, I promise." He told her gently. He bent down so that she was forced to face him. "I'm sorry I'm leaving, especially during your senior year. But you're going to do great. And I will be back in plenty of time to see you graduate."

"Okay..." Emily sighed. She looked around, trying to find a way to change the topic. "What are we going to do about the food situation? I mean, you normally cook dinner."

"I can cook." Calla mentioned from where she was sitting on the couch next to Noah. Emily looked at her, then quickly turned back to Chase.

"Please don't leave me with her." She cried, hugging her dad. Calla raised her hands in a 'what the hell, kid?' gesture, while Charlotte, Chase, Noah, and I all struggled to contain our laughter.

"Don't worry. I convinced your Great Uncle Douglas to send meals." Chase eventually pulled away.

"Hey!" Calla exclaimed.

"Eights? Any eights?" I laughed, trying to get back to the game.

"Go fish." Charlotte smirked, as if her not having an eight had won her the game. Just then, the doorbell rang. Chase, being the closest to the door, opened it up to reveal the rest of the team.

"Wow, this place is nice." Kira, a tall fifteen-year-old with dirty blonde hair, walked in first, a soft pink bag tossed over her shoulder. She grinned, twirling around to get a better view of the place. "You guys used to live here?"

"Yep." Dani smirked at her daughter's enthusiasm, carrying a second bag - this one orange - into the room. A boy the same age as Kira, but with black, spiky hair followed them in, an equally awestruck expression on his face.

"Wicked." Kameron grinned, looking around. His gaze settled on us. "Charlotte, I didn't know you were going to be here."

"I wanted to see Uncle Chase, Aunt Bree, and Uncle Jaden off." My niece explained, shrugging.

"That was nice of you, sweetie." Jaden smiled, walking in behind the Broadmans. Charlotte dropped her cards and ran to give her uncle a hug, grinning.

"Are we all ready to go?" Bree questioned, walking over to the kitchen. She stopped at Charlotte's seat and stole a glance at her cards, smirking. She glanced back at the others, while subtly holding up three fingers for me to see. I grinned back at her.

"Yeah, just waiting for Oliver, Seraphina, and Skylar." Chase assured his sister as Noah gave Jaden a hug. Then, almost as if on cue, Skylar, Oliver, and who I presumed was their daughter appeared on the veranda, making good use of the geoleap watches that Calla had given them years ago.

"We late?" Oliver questioned as they walked in from the veranda. Seraphina looked around, not quite as impressed as the twins, but looking slightly curious. She looked a lot more like her mother than she did Oliver, I realized, but just different enough to prove that she wasn't one of those pod-grown Calderans.

"Nope. Hi Seraphina." Calla greeted. Seraphina smiled back, one hand reaching up to brush her loose, brown curls over her shoulder. As she did so, I realized that there was a crystal blue streak in her hair, partially hidden by the chestnut locks.

"Hi." The girl responded, following her parents in.

"AJ's got the ship prepped for us at the hangar." Chase announced, glancing at his comm. watch. He looked around. "Time to go, I guess."

"Alright. Behave," Dani looked at the twins, "no stupid stunts, and listen to Calla."

"Promise." Kira assured her mom.

"And what's the rule about powers?" Kaz added.

"Don't do it in public unless we're sure we won't get caught." Kameron recited. Upon hearing that, Oliver turned to Seraphina.

"Don't necessarily follow your cousins' examples, okay?" He requested. She nodded.

"Sure. Don't listen to Kameron or Kira - should be easy." She assured him, giving him a smile.

"Study hard," Bree gave me a quick hug before enveloping Noah in one, "and call your sister once a week to check in. Stay out of trouble."

"Be safe." Noah requested, hugging her back. Chase smiled at them before turning to Calla and Emily.

"I'll miss you guys every day." He told them, hugging Emily first, then Calla.

"Be careful. Don't take any stupid risks. Send messages every chance you get." Calla instructed. She did well to hide it, but I could hear the roughness in her voice. "And if anything goes wrong, it's okay to leave the others to die in order to save yourself."

"Love you too, CeeCee." Jaden looked at her, amused. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm kidding." She told him before looking back at Chase, standing so close that their noses practically touched. "Come home safe."

"I promise. I love you." He told her before kissing her. She pulled away after a moment.

"Love you too." She told him, stepping back to let Emily give her dad one last hug.

"Be good for you mom. Love you." Chase told her, kissing her on the forehead one last time.

"Good luck." Emily called after them. The parents all gave their kids one last meaningful look before heading out the door.

After a moment, Calla clapped her hands together, turning to face the kids. "Alright. Leo and Katherine will be by in a little bit with dinner, so let's focus on getting you guys settled for now. Kira, Kameron, you guys are in the first room on your left - your dad and uncle used to share that room, actually. Seraphina, I've got a cot set up for you in Emily's room. You'll have a real bed soon, sweetie, but it's going to take a couple of days to get here. Same goes for you, Kameron."

"That's fine." Seraphina nodded, hoisted her bag over her shoulder, and started for the stairs. Kameron shrugged, not particularly caring about the cot.

"I'm doing groceries on Saturday. If you guys want anything, just add it to the list on the fridge, within reason of course." Calla continued. She turned to Kameron. "Does your guinea pig require special food, or is the no-name brand okay?"

"Guinea pig?" Kameron repeated, raising an eyebrow. Calla frowned at his confusion.

"Yeah, Josh..." She replied. Kameron frowned.

"Josh isn't a guinea pig..." He trailed off. He grabbed the bag he'd placed on the ground, and I realized that it was partially open, probably to give Josh some air.

"Then what kind of animal is..." Calla stopped as Kameron pulled out a plastic cage with a tarantula crawling around in it. Calla didn't say anything for a long time, hands clenched, before she forced a fake smile on her face. "I'm going to kill your mother." She decided, walking away and leaving Kameron standing there, confused.

**Emily's POV**

"So, they just left them at your place?" Ava questioned, her brown eyes widening in surprise. I nodded, picking at my fried chicken. "Geez, how long is this business trip that your dad and his coworkers are on?"

"Eight months." Charlotte replied. She glanced at me. "It's not that bad."

"You're not the one sharing a room with Seraphina." Charlotte rolled her eyes at me. "She kept me up all night with her tossing and turning. And once she did fall asleep, you wanna know what I discovered? She snores. Loudly."

"That sucks." My best friend agreed me with me. I smiled.

"Thank you, Ava." I glared pointedly at Charlotte, who rolled her eyes. She glanced at her nearly empty tray.

"Hey, do you think Noah can score me some free chicken?" She wondered aloud. I shrugged.

"You can ask, but I don't think so. Just because he works here does not mean that he gets free food." I told her. She shrugged and got up, heading for the Cluck-Cluck Barn's pick-up counter. Ava leaned in close.

"So, is this like a political thing, or a bionic thing, your dad leaving? It doesn't have anything to do with next year's election, right?" She questioned. I gave her a look.

"You know I can't tell you." I replied. Her eyes widened.

"You realize, that by refusing to confirm that it's bionic, you're definitely confirming it's a bionic thing." She pointed out.

"Am I?" I questioned, playing dumb. We both looked at each other and laughed, until Charlotte abruptly returned to the table.

"Hot guys, ten o'clock." She hissed, dropping down into her seat. I turned over my shoulder, not particularly interested in some random at the local fast food restaurant, but more curious as to what had gotten Charlotte so excited.

Neither one of them was anything special in my opinion. One of them, the older of the two (though they were both clearly high school age), had shoulder length, dark brown hair, dark eyes, and tanned skin, with a wide grin on his face as he talked to his friend.

The other looked closer to our age, perhaps even slightly younger, with dark brown hair and a bad boy vibe given off by his leather jacket, dark eyebrows, and a smile charming enough to make all the dumb girls at my school swoon.

"You've got to be kidding me." I muttered, something else catching my eye. Charlotte and Ava followed my gaze as Kira, Kameron, and Seraphina came into the restaurant, looking around in curiosity. "Can't I get a break?"

"Easy." Charlotte warned before smiling widely. "Guys, over here!"

"No, Char…" I trailed off, forcing a fake smile on my face as they came over. To be fair, Seraphina looked like she'd been dragged here against her will, while Kameron's eyes were more focused on the menu than us. Kira, on the other hand, beamed widely at us.

"Hi guys." She grinned. She noticed Ava and gestured at Seraphina and her brother. "I'm Kira. This my brother, Kameron, and our cousin, Sera."

"Hi, I'm Ava. I'm a friend of Em and Charlotte's." Ava introduced herself, smiling widely. "I hear you guys are going to be going to Millennium Academy with us."

"If that's where you're going, I guess. Mom didn't know the name of the school." Kameron shrugged, taking a seat. The girls followed his lead. Ava smiled.

"Well, it should be interesting. We're not in the same grade, so I doubt we'll have classes together aside from gym, but we should all try to meet up together at lunch." She suggested. I sent her a glare, having become more comfortable with just the three of us hanging out at lunch and not wanting to have to double our group's number. I'd never been a big fan of change, so I'd hoped at least that part of my life wouldn't have been uprooted by my new roommates. Well, at least I had my classes. The only one I would have to share with them would be gym class, and well, the gym teacher alone was enough to make that a living hell, so it's not like they could make it any worse.

"Wait, your schools are divided by age?" Seraphina seemed surprised. She frowned, confused by the concept.

"Yes…how was it like at your old school?" Ava frowned.

"She was homeschooled." I said quickly, glancing at Seraphina in hopes that she wouldn't answer Ava's question. Aliens were still widely a secret on Earth, and while I was sure that Ava would find it cool, I didn't think it was a good idea to reveal Seraphina's secret like that. If the wrong person found out, it could be really bad for the Calderan-Human hybrid. And as much as I didn't like sharing a room with her, I knew better than to screw her over like that.

"Well, then, I hope you enjoy the school year." Ava glanced at me, smirking. "I have a feeling it's going to be an exciting one."

**Naomi's POV**

"…no, she needs to be in the same classes as Kira Broadman and Kameron Broadman." When Ben and I walked into the penthouse, Calla was sitting on the stairs, pinching the bridge of her nose. Her face lit up when she saw us or, rather, the grocery bags in our hands. She gave us a grateful smile as she continued to speak to an official at Emily's school. "Yes, I understand that Seraphina is a year older than her cousins, but her private tutoring didn't cover most of what's expected for 11th graders and she won't be able to handle the work load…thank you. I will check my email. Thanks Jerry." She tapped a button on her watch, shutting off her comms. "God, Jerry's a pain in the ass."

"You realize that Sera's still going to have trouble with history, geography, and social studies, right?" Ben pointed out as he began unpacking the boxes. Helix ran around our legs, curious to see if we'd gotten him anything.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to help her with that. English too. Oliver slipped me copies of her previous homework, and it turns out that even though they speak the same language, they use the phrases and words differently. She's basically British, without the accent and no one else knows her weird little idioms." Calla sighed. She looked at the groceries. "By the way, have I told you guys that I love you?"

"Yeah, but it's nice to be reminded." I smiled as she began to help us pull things out.

"I can help Sera with geography and history, by the way." Ben mentioned. He shrugged. "I did okay with geo in high school, and I did minor in American history in college."

"You don't have to." Calla told him.

"It's fine. Happy to." Ben assured her. She nodded.

"Okay, great. Thanks." She glanced down at her holowatch and hit a button. A holoscreen with a list of things on it appeared. I winced when I saw how long it was. "Okay, school is done. Now I just need to…get the beds, take Helix to the vet, take Kameron and the girls shopping for school, cook dinner-"

"Why don't we do take out?" Ben offered. "I bet Sera's never had a Jones pizza."

"That's…a good idea, actually." Calla sighed. She looked at Ben hopefully. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to go get us a few pies if I transfer you the money."

"No prob. Besides, the girl at the counter is pretty cute." He reasoned. We both looked at him. "What? I have a thing for blondes."

"Thank you, Ben." Calla smiled at him as he grabbed his bag and headed for the door. Once he was gone, I looked at my sister-in-law.

"So, Chase is heading to another planet. And you've gone from co-parenting one kid to single-parenting four in less than a week, two of whom are related to Kaz and Dani Broadman. That sounds fun." I said sarcastically, taking a seat. Calla sighed and dropped her face into one hand.

"Do I seem as stressed as I feel?" She asked, looking out at me from behind her fingers. I shrugged.

"Only a little. And you're doing a really good job of hiding it in front of the kids." I reassured her. She groaned.

"I should be hiding it in front of you too." She said, half to herself. I shrugged.

"I don't mind. I can handle it. Though, I have to ask, why did you offer to take them?" I inquired. "You must have known it wouldn't be easy."

Calla hesitated. "Do not say a word to any of the kids about this." She warned. I nodded, realizing that she was serious. "But Sera was coming to stay with us, even before everyone agreed to the mission."

"Really?" I stared at her, shocked. "You never told us."

"We were going to, but then the Venusians offered the peace treaty, and you know the rest." She waved her hand vaguely, then sighed. "Things on Caldera have been bad, especially over the last year. Skylar didn't want to leave – she's Caldera's number one hero – but they were worried about Sera. They thought that sending her to Earth might be the best option for her."

"Why not send her to Dani and Kaz?" I frowned. Calla shrugged.

"They thought a more…peaceful environment might be better. Apparently, she's been playing vigilante behind their backs. They wouldn't have found out if she hadn't broken her leg and been brought in to Mighty Med." Calla explain. "And well…it wouldn't exactly be easy for Kaz and Dani to tell she can't play hero while Kira and Kameron are preparing to become sidekicks."

"They're really worried about her, aren't they?" I guessed. She nodded. "We'll keep an eye on her. She'll be okay. Besides, Centium City is, like, one of the safest cities on Earth."

**Victoria's POV**

I cocked my head to the side, watching as Calla Davenport helped her sister-in-law, Naomi Davenport, unpack a bag of groceries. "You're sure the Elite Force is gone?" I hummed, not wanting any surprises.

"They left yesterday. Discordia and I can both confirm that." One of my partners, codenamed Vulcan, replied with a cocky smirk growing on his face.

"You were right to wait, to bide our time." Venus observed, watching the team with malice in her gaze. "With the League about to be overwhelmed with their own problems, and Bionic Headquarters too far away to help, the city is going to be helpless."

"What about the kids?" Vulcan questioned. He looked at us. "I know better than underestimate anyone with the last names Davenport, Parker, or Dooley. If they're anywhere near as resourceful as their parents, they could be a big problem for us."

"Then we'll deal with them." Venus decided. "We'll destroy them, and the city will be ours for the taking. By time the Elite Force returns, it'll be too late."


	2. First Day

**Sera's POV**

I stopped at the bottom of the stairway, watching the activity in the kitchen as a knot formed in my stomach. I'd never been particularly fond of going to school – I'd always preferred my private lessons with Hapax the Elder over the public classes I had to do twice a week – and having to go to an Earth school had already been nerve-wracking. I'd hoped that a quiet morning before classes would help ease my nerves but judging by the chaos present on the main floor of the penthouse, that wasn't going to be happening.

Emily was in the kitchen, cooking bacon on the stove while looking at her class schedule on her Davenwatch. Every so often, she'd bend down and hand a piece of bacon to Helix, who was sitting happily at his owner's side. Kira was going through piles of school supplies that Calla had left for us on the counter, shoving different items into a black and pink backpack. Kameron was on the couch, playing a loud video game while occasionally popping a grape into his mouth. Naomi was on the phone with someone – Ben, I presumed – making her away around the kitchen as she tried to make herself something to eat without having to make Emily move from in front of the stove. Calla was at the desk, muttering to herself as she skimmed through an open filing cabinet drawer, looking for one document or another.

All in all, it was very different than what I was used to.

"Morning, Seraphina." Kira smiled brightly at me as she walked to the couch, dropping her bag on the ground before sitting down next to her brother. She had a bowl of mushy looking stuff in her hands. "There's oatmeal left if you want some."

"Thanks." I replied, walking over to the island and taking a seat. Calla clapped her hands together, getting everyone's attention, just as I made myself my breakfast.

"Alright. First day." She announced. "Everyone has their schedules, supplies, bags, lunches?" She waited for us all to confirm, and then for Kameron to race upstairs and come back down with his bag. "Okay, good. The school is only a couple of blocks away – Emily and Charlotte can show you the way to it. Em, honey, I'm trusting that the two of you will keep an eye on them, keep them out of trouble?"

"What makes you think we're going to get into trouble?" Kira protested. Calla raised an eyebrow, lips curling into a smug smile.

"I've spoken with your parents." She replied. Kira sighed, admitting defeat. "Look, it's easy to get turned around in a new school, that's all I meant. You will help them out?" She added, glancing at Emily. Emily shrugged, but nodded, turning back to the frying pan.

"Wait, I have a question." Kameron spoke up. Calla sighed.

"No, you may not bring Josh to school. He stays in your cage when you're at school and while I'm at home." She told him.

"That wasn't it." He replied. She smiled.

"In that case, what's up?" She inquired cheerfully.

"Why can't we just take the bus to school? Why do we have to walk? It would save us, like, ten minutes." He asked, earning a groan from both Naomi and Emily. Calla sent them a look before answering Kameron's question.

"Because those self-driving buses are dangerous, and I don't let Emily, or anyone else living under my roof take them." She explained, her tone overly patient in a way that told me that she'd had to answer this question numerous times before. "Trust me, kid, you don't want to end up at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean."

"Like that could really happen." Kameron scoffed. Calla merely raised an eyebrow, choosing not to argue with him about that point.

"Look, walking won't kill you, and that is the rule." She told him, not unkindly. He sighed but went back to his video game. "Alright, like I said, stay out of trouble. Rule number one is no using your powers at school. Kam, Kira, I know Geminus has that rule for all of the children of the NLH, but Sera, the same goes for you. It's just safer for everyone if you all act as if you don't have any abilities. Okay?"

"Okay." I nodded – it seemed fair enough. Calla nodded.

"Alright, now, if and when you all break rule number one – and don't say you won't, I went to high school with bionic superhumans – make sure you don't get caught and I expect to hear about it. You won't get in trouble if you had a good reason for using them, and I can't handle a situation that I don't know about, alright?" She waited for us each to agree. Naomi was watching the whole conversation in amusement, sipping at a cup of tea. "Am I forgetting anything?"

"Don't think so." Naomi added, reminding Calla that was she in the room.

"Yeah, we're good." Kira replied. Calla nodded.

"Great. I'm off then." She announced. She walked over to Emily and gave her a kiss on the forehead before grabbing her bag. She glanced at Naomi. "You need a ride to your classes?"

"Please." Naomi placed her mug in the sink and started to follow Calla out.

"Morning Charlotte." Calla greeted as the dark-skinned girl stepped into the room, having arrived just as they were leaving.

"Bye Aunt Calla, bye Naomi!" Charlotte called back. She waited until they left before turning to Calla with a scowl on her face. "Dad remembered the no bus rule."

"Mom too." Emily sighed. She looked at Kameron. "There's no point, Kam. They've been insisting on that rule since I was in kindergarten."

"They don't actually believe that the buses could end up at the bottom of the ocean, do they?" Kira chuckled. Emily nodded, and Kira stared at her. "Okay, what is with their hatred of self-driving cars?"

"No idea." Charlotte supplied, sitting down in the chair closest to the TV. "All I know is that whenever I ask my Dad about it, he says 'Marcus' in a really weird tone."

"Who is Marcus?" I asked, confused. Emily shrugged.

"No idea. We should go." She added, glancing at the clock. "If we don't want to be late."

"We wouldn't be late if we took the bus." Kameron grumbled under his breath, reluctantly grabbing his bag and following the older girl out the door.

**Emily's POV**

"And this is the main hallway where most of our lockers are." I explained, showing Kira, Kameron, and Sera into the hallway. It was abuzz with life, students from all four grades attending the school in the hallway. It wasn't even the majority of them - I knew a lot of the students would be in the cafeteria eating breakfast, or already in their classes, or, for the athletes of the academy, they were meeting with their individual coaches.

"Which are ours?" Kameron asked, looking around. I held my hand out for his tablet and he showed me his welcome packet.

"Uh, first ones on the left of classroom room 101. That's the first one on your left." I turned and pointed. "Coincidentally, that's where your first period class is. You guys all have first period Spanish?"

"Unfortunately." Kira replied with a forced smile.

"Senorita Ortiz isn't that bad, I swear." Ava assured them, walking over to us, holding her books in her arms. She glanced at me and Charlotte. "We've got chem with Perez, then fourth period gym with Satan together, right?"

"Unfortunately." "Yeah." Charlotte and I both replied.

"I'm sorry, your gym teacher's name is Satan?" Seraphina questioned skeptically, looking at us. Ava, Charlotte, and I all exchanged looks.

"Yes." We all said at the same time, dead serious. Kira frowned nervously.

"Don't we have gym fourth period as well?" She asked slowly. Charlotte nodded.

"They mix grades for that, since everyone's got to take it but we all have weird schedules." She explained. "But yeah, we'll all have gym class together."

"Except Aaron." Ava added. She glanced at the others before adding. "My cousin. He's in your grade."

"That sucks." I grumbled. Aaron was on the football team, and everyone knew that the football players got special attention from all the coaches. It was unfair, but being friends with one of them worked in our favor. Aaron and Ava had only started at Millennium Academy just before our second semester last year (they'd only moved to Centium City in late December), but Aaron's position on the team had kept a lot of the bullies in the various sports teams around the school away from Charlotte and I.

Suddenly, before I could give them any more explanation, the warning bell rang. Seraphina winced at the sudden sound, looking around in confusion.

"Warning bell. Means we should get to class." Kameron said quickly. I realized that they probably didn't have any type of bell or schedule like this for Calderans in their education. "Room 101, you said?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"I'll see you in class." Ava told me. I nodded, then waited until she left to give the others some last bits of advice.

"Sera, just follow Kameron and Kira's lead in your classes, and you'll be fine." I assured the Calderan. "As for the rest...avoid the second floor bathrooms - they're disgusting..."

"If you want a snack, the vending machines near Room 203 are the best," Charlotte added before looking at me, "and whatever you do,"

"Do not, under any circumstances, piss off the gym teacher." I finished. The three of them looked at us, now genuinely scared of what gym was going to be like, and I felt like my job had been done. "Alright, we'll see you guys later."

I waited until they'd actually started heading in the direction of their classroom before following Charlotte into ours.

Mr. Perez was one of those teachers who believed in seating charts, and much to my dismay, Ava was stuck sitting at the front of the room, partnered with Haley Sitwell, while Charlotte and I were both at the back of the classroom. Neither of us had been partnered with each other, but the two new guys we were being partnered with - Darius Moore and Matt Ward - had yet to arrive, so it gave us a little time to talk.

"You think they'll be okay?" Charlotte inquired, turning around on her stool to face me. I shrugged.

"They'll be fine. They're superheroes - I'm sure they can handle a little school." I rolled my eyes.

"No, I meant-" Charlotte gestured vaguely at the sky. I nodded, understanding what she meant instantly.

"Dad and the others? They'll be okay too. It's just a mediation thingy. They won't be in very much danger." I replied. I sat back suddenly. "You've got to be kidding me."

"What?" Charlotte turned around. Then, in a much happier tone than my own, "you've got to be kidding me."

When we'd been hanging at the Cluck-Cluck Barn the other day, Charlotte had seen a couple of good-looking guys and had been joking about getting their numbers for the rest of the day. And apparently, they were in our class.

"Well, hello there." Charlotte greeted as they walked over to us. "Which one of you is Matt?"

I nearly smacked myself at Charlotte's obviousness. Matt - good looking with a brown comb-over and thick eyebrows - sat down beside her.

"Hey, I'm Matt." He held his fist out to her, then, after she bumped her fist with his, he held it out to me. "I'm new."

"Nice to meet you." I bumped my fist with him, then slid over so Darius - a skinny guy with shoulder length, dark-brown hair - could take his seat. "I'm Emily, this weirdo here is Charlotte."

"Hey, better a weirdo than a nerd." Charlotte teased.

"Nerds are awesome, what are you talking about?" I teased. Darius and Matt watched the conversation, amused.

"So, are you guys new to Centium City?" Charlotte inquired, smiling prettily at Matt.

"Uh, my mom just moved us here." Darius didn't sound too excited about that, which confused me. Millennium Academy was one of the best schools in the country - why wouldn't he be excited?

"And what about you?" Charlotte asked Matt. "You move here with your mom too?"

"My dad, actually. We moved because of his job." He explained, seeming less annoyed by the transition than his friend.

"What's he do?" I asked, curious. He shrugged.

"It's complicated." He replied. I frowned, but didn't push it - not everyone wanted to brag about their parents jobs. Before Charlotte could ask another question, the teacher cleared his throat and began the class. I noticed immediately that out of the four of us, I was the only one taking notes. Charlotte and Matt were whispering to each other, not paying attention in the slightest - unfortunately, both Charlotte and I knew I'd be giving her a copy of my notes later, so she didn't seem bothered by what she was missing. Darius, on the other hand, looked to be listening, but hadn't even bothered to take out his notebook.

That annoyed me to no end. We were apparently going to be lab partners this year - though, I wondered if Perez would be willing to let me switch with Matt so that Charlotte and I could be partners like we had last year - and he wasn't even taking notes? If he thought I was going to carry his ass through this class and get himself an easy A, he had another thing coming.

"Alright," Mr. Perez clapped his hands together, sitting down at the front of his desk, "I like to start the year with a pop quiz. So..." He paused, considering his question, "who can tell me what an ATP molecule is made of?"

My hand shot into the air, a confident smirk on my face. Mr. Perez smiled and pointed in my direction, and I smiled.

"It's made out of a ribose center, which is a sugar molecule, which sits between a base made of linked carbon and nitrogen rings, also called adenine, and a group of three phosphates." Darius answered before I could. I stared at him, stunned.

"Very good, Mr. Moore." Mr. Perez smiled, while I continued to stare. "Now, what is a solution called when it has a pH of less than 7?"

"It's acidic." I declared, briefly raising my hand before answering. Darius raised an eyebrow at my answer.

"Thank you, Ms. Davenport." Mr. Perez said warmly. I'd always been a favorite of his. "Can anyone tell me how enzymes are denatured?"

Both my and Darius' hands went up at the same time. Oh, it was on.

**Sera's POV**

"I can not believe he beat you." Ava was laughing at Emily as Kira, Kameron, and I walked over to her and Charlotte. Emily scowled, crossing her arms.

"He did not beat me." Emily insisted, rolling her eyes.

"He kinda did, Em." Charlotte smiled.

"No, he didn't." Emily replied dismissively.

"You sure? It sounds like he beat you." Kameron commented. Emily gave him a look. "Who is 'he', by the way?"

"Darius Moore, new kid." Charlotte explained, nodding towards a dark-haired guy standing at the other side of the gym. He kept glancing over at us, though. Maybe he knew we were talking about him? "He's got a hot best friend. His name's Matt." Charlotte added, talking mostly to Kira and myself.

"I'm not interested." Kira told her, waving her off.

"Good, because I don't plan on sharing." She added.

"Which one is Matt?" I inquired about Charlotte's new friend, looking around. Darius was talking to a group of guys, but I couldn't see which one she was talking about.

"Oh, he doesn't have gym with us." Charlotte explained.

"He doesn't have gym at all. He's exempt." Emily added. She sighed. "I wish I could be exempt."

"Why is he exempt?" Kameron frowned.

"He said it was a medical thing, but he didn't want to talk about it. Said it wasn't anything serious." Charlotte shrugged. She glanced at Emily. "Oh, by the way, we're going to show him and Darius around after school."

"I never agreed to that." Emily said quickly. Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"You just don't like them." She insisted. Emily nodded.

"There's something about them that weirds me out." She reasoned. I smiled a little.

"Are you sure it's not just because Darius beat you?" I asked.

"Quit it!" Emily snapped, losing her patience, but the others all just laughed. Then, all of a sudden, all noise in the gymnasium ceased at once - you could hear a pin drop, it was so quiet.

"Listen up, maggots!" I spun around to see a short, red-haired lady in a cat-themed sweatsuit stalking towards the center of the class. The rest of the students all started to move closer together - despite her short stature, something about the woman seemed to make everyone else afraid. "I'm Ms. Perry, your new gym teacher! Now, if you were hoping for a fun little gym class where you can sit around and play duck, duck, goose or whatever stupid game you were thinking of, think again! Because in my class, I don't care about fun. Do you understand?" She turned on the nearest student, getting right in his face. "Well?"

"Yes m'am." He whimpered. She nodded.

"Good. Dodge ball." She announced. "Athletes on one side, non-athletes on the other."

"How is that fair?" Kameron protested. Perry turned to face him, a deep scowl set on her face.

"You want to repeat that, Glenn?" She questioned. Kameron frowned.

"That's not my name." He commented. She raised an eyebrow and stepped forward, causing Kameron to take a step back.

"It is now. Get over there." She instructed. Kameron gulped, then nodded and did as he was told. We all started splitting up.

"Wrong side, Dooley!" She called.

"I'm on the fencing team." Charlotte reasoned.

"That's not a real sport!" Perry sneered. Charlotte sighed and walked back over to us.

"You know she hates me the most." She muttered. Emily grimaced and patted her shoulder.

"We know." She assured her as we all turned to face the team full of football, baseball, soccer, rugby, and whatever other sports players there were in the gym.

"In case you didn't realize, we're screwed." Ava mentioned, glancing sideways at us.

**Xxx**

"I hate this school." Kira scowled, wincing as she rubbed her stomach painfully. I grimaced sympathetically, not disagreeing with my younger cousin.

"It's not so bad." Charlotte reasoned, shrugging.

"Uh, no. It is." Kameron agreed with his sister, arms crossed. "I miss our old school."

"What was your old school like?" I inquired, curious.

"More relaxed than this." Kira grumbled.

"This place is so prissy and uptight." Kameron sighed. "There are a million rules, these ugly uniforms, and oh yeah, Perry."

"Well, it is a private school." Emily pointed out. "It's bound to be more prestigious than public schools."

"Doesn't mean we have to like it." Kira sighed. I looked at her, a little surprised to see her so pessimistic about the whole thing. We hadn't spent too much time together growing up, but I did remember that Kira was always the cheerful one. "Sorry, I just miss my old friends."

"Well I can't do anything about your old ones, would you like to make some new ones for the time being?" Charlotte offered. "I'm sure Darius and Matt won't mind you guys tagging along on our little tour of Centium City."

Kira and Kameron exchanged looks. "No thanks. You seem like you're fine on your own." Kira replied, smiling a little. Charlotte shrugged.

"Suit yourself. Sera?" She offered. Emily spoke up before I could.

"Actually, I'm not coming." She told Charlotte. The dark-skinned girl scowled in annoyance. "Hey, I actually can't. Noah forgot his wallet at home and needs me to bring him some cash so he can buy himself dinner later."

Charlotte looked genuinely disappointed, so I cleared my throat. "I can take the money to him."

Emily shot me a desperate, pleading look, but Charlotte grinned happily. "That's a great idea, Seraphina!" She exclaimed, one hand already reaching for her bag. She pulled out a couple of paper bills and handed them to me. "Thank you!"

"It's fine, really." I assured her.

"Are you sure you know where you're going? You've only been in town for a couple of days." She reminded me, clearly still looking for a way out of having to help Charlotte.

"I was just there a couple of days ago." I reminded her. "I know the way."

"Yeah, she'll be fine." Charlotte was already guiding Emily away from us. "Call us if you get lost!" She called over her shoulder.

**Xxx**

"Oh." Noah stopped when he saw me sitting at a table near the employee entrance, looking a little surprised for a minute before smiling. "Hey Sera, I thought Emily was coming."

"Charlotte's making her help her with something, so I volunteered." I explained, handing him the cash. He smiled.

"Thanks. You didn't have to." He told me, walking over to the counter. "Hey, you want anything?"

"Uh..." I hesitated, looking at the menu. I'd never even heard of half of these options before. Noah was patient though, waiting for me to make a decisions. "Onion rings, I guess?"

"Cool." Noah gave the waitress our order. Waiting a few minutes for it to come back before taking a seat across from me. He had ordered himself a chicken burger and fries. "So, why has Char kidnapped Em this time?"

"This happens a lot?" I guessed, based on his tone. He chuckled, nodding.

"Don't get me wrong - Emily is perfectly capable of getting into trouble on her own - but Charlotte can be...persuasive."

"They're giving some new kids a tour." I explained. Noah frowned before taking a bite of his burger.

"Shouldn't they be giving you guys the tour?" He questioned. I shrugged.

"I didn't really want it, and I don't think Emily was that keen on giving it to begin with." I admitted. I glanced at him. "I don't think she likes me very much."

"No, that's not...well..." Noah trailed off and I sighed, picking at the fried rings he'd bought for me. "It's not you, okay?" He paused to take another bite. "Emily's never been the biggest fan of change, especially ones that she has no say in. This whole thing with our parents is stressing her out, and she's probably taking it out on your because you're sharing a room. It's not fair, but it's not personal either."

"So what do I-Oh." I started as I took a bite out of my onion rings. I stopped when the taste hit my tongue - no wonder my dad listed 'fast food' as one of the best parts of Earth culture.

"I'm guessing they don't have onion rings on Caldera?" Noah chuckled. I shook my head. "You were saying?"

"What do I do? About Emily?" I asked. He smirked.

"Show her up, or tell her off." He shrugged. I frowned, thinking that that would just start an argument. "Look, she gets into her head and sometimes doesn't realize what she's doing. She'll see what's she doing eventually, and probably apologize then, but if you tell her off the next time she's, well, being Emily, or show her that you're not backing down, it'll hit her sooner."

I hummed in response, thinking it over. "Maybe." I agreed slowly. Noah smiled.

"Fair warning though - she's terrible at apologies. Like, really bad. It's kinda funny, actually." He chuckled. He started to tell me something else, but a sudden screeching noise, followed by a loud crashing coming from the road stopped him. We both stood up, caught off guard by the noise. "What the hell?"

**Emily's POV**

"So, how do you guys know each other?" Matt inquired as we walked down the street, Charlotte occasionally pointing out some building or monument and telling the guys why it was cool, or why they should avoid it, or some other fun fact. She was taking her duty as tour guide very seriously, so much that it was almost funny. Matt was the only one really listening, watching her with wide, curious eyes, nodding along and asking questions, while Darius looked like he couldn't care less about it. Something felt off about the way Matt was so invested in Charlotte, like he was faking it or something. I smiled inwardly, realizing that he probably only asked for the tour to spend more time with her, and dragged Darius along so that it didn't seem so obvious.

"We're cousins. Oh, and our parents work together." Charlotte replied brightly. Darius looked up at that.

"At Davenport Industries?" He guessed. I stopped to look at him, a little surprised, but he just shrugged. "Well, your last name is Davenport, and Aaron Merullo mentioned that your Dad was the bionic guy."

"You were asking about me?" I raised an eyebrow at him. He smirked.

"I like to know my competition." He replied. Charlotte chuckled a little.

"Yeah, our parents work at Davenport Industries. Her mom is CEO, actually." She added. I sent her a look – I didn't like telling people what my mom did for a living. It wasn't that I wasn't proud to be her and my dad's daughter, but I was aware that even for Millennium Academy, my family was pretty rich. We didn't flaunt it about or anything, and Mom was pretty insistent that if I wanted something I had to work for it, but that wouldn't necessarily matter to the other kids at school. Most would just see a spoiled rich kid and that's not the kind of reputation I wanted.

Darius and Matt didn't look like they cared about the money, though. "That is so cool!" Matt grinned widely. "Wait, does that mean you guys are bionic too?"

"No." Charlotte lied instantly. I shook my head.

"That's a shame. That would be cool." Matt shoved his hands in his pockets. I shrugged.

"So-" I was about to ask them what they thought of Millennium Academy so far when I suddenly heard the sound of shouting. We all turned at the same time towards the sounds, but whatever had happened was so far away that we couldn't quite see what was going on. There was smoke though, and distressing noises coming from closer to the city center.

"What's going on?" I wondered. Charlotte started forward.

"What are you doing?" Darius questioned. Charlotte hesitated, looking back towards what I had to assume was a major traffic accident.

"Someone could be hurt." She reasoned, and, before any of us could stop her, she took off in the direction of the commotion. I frowned.

"That doesn't look safe." Darius told me. I nodded.

"Which is why someone should go after her." I agreed, following after Charlotte.

"Hey!" I called after Charlotte, getting her to slow down enough for me to catch up with her. "Oh God."

It was an accident, but it was a particularly bad one. A bus – thankfully a city bus rather than one of the elementary school ones – was tipped over in the middle of the street, while another car had hit a post nearby. Another flipped car had crashed into the front of a café, with smoke coming out of the restaurant. People were running from the scene, panicking.

"I think there are people inside!" Charlotte called to me before running into the café. I, meanwhile, raced towards the bus.

"Hello? Anyone in here?" I called as I ran around it. It was tipped on its side, making the door completely inaccessible, but on the roof of the bus, there was an emergency exit. It took a couple of harsh kicks to get it open, but eventually I managed it. "Hello?"

A couple of people quickly crawled out of the emergency exit. "There's no one else still inside." One of them, a woman, told me as I helped her and her son off to the side of the street.

"What happened?" I asked, confused.

"The GPS went crazy." The twelve-year-old boy told me. I frowned – aside from my mom and uncle's jokes, I'd never actually heard of a self-driving vehicle's GPS causing an accident. "Behind you!"

I spun around to see another car behind us. Immediately, I knew something was wrong – one of the passengers was desperately trying to get control of the wheel, but it was jerking out of her hands, moving completely on its own. And it was coming right towards us.

**Sera's POV**

"What the hell is going on out here?" Noah demanded, watching in horror as one vehicle collided with another. It was the third vehicle to lose control since we'd ran to the road – the first one narrowly missed hitting us, but thankfully the couple inside managed to bail from the car before it crashed into a street sign. The driver of the other car wasn't so lucky, unfortunately.

"I have no idea." I muttered before running after the third car stopped, having slammed into a parked car. I quickly jumped over the parked car's hood, sliding across it at the end so that I could reach the driver's side. I ripped open the door, having to tug at it a few times to get it unstuck. "Are you okay?"

"Joanie." The woman said, looking behind her as she pressed a hand against a deep-looking cut on her forehead. I followed her gaze to see a young girl sitting in a car seat.

"I got her." I assured the mother before moving further down the car. The door opened easily and I helped the child, Joanie, out of her seat. "She's okay, she's not hurt." I assured her mother.

"Thank you." Her mother smiled at me as we moved off to the side of the road. She looked out at the road in dismay. "This has been happening all over town."

"Why?" I questioned out loud. She shook her head, as clueless as I was. "Oh!"

I turned to see another car speeding towards one of the cars that had already crashed, the driver clearly unable to do anything. I started towards it, unsure of what I could even do. There was nothing I could do to save the driver in the moving vehicle, but maybe I could at least protect the driver still in the crashed vehicle.

I raised one hand, forming a thick wall of ice into a barrier around the non-moving car. The driver inside of it, still unable to get his door opened, looked visibly relieved, but I wasn't entirely sure if the barrier would be thick enough to protect him.

Suddenly, something blurry sped past me, towards the moving car. I couldn't quite see what it was, but it flew into the car's window, shattering it, and then disappeared as quickly as it had came. And once it was gone, I realized: the driver was no longer in their car.

"Holy shit." I heard someone swear. I spun around, and to my shock, there stood the driver, along with Noah, an equally confused look on the driver's face.

"Wait," I frowned, looking between Noah, who was still holding the driver's arm, and the car, then back at Noah. I blinked in surprise, distinctly remembering how my parents had told me that Katherine, Chase, Spin, and Charlotte were the only bionic super humans living in Centium City. "Did you...was that you?"

Noah licked his lips, looking between the car and I. After a long moment, he finally spoke. "I would really appreciate it if my mother never finds out about this." He said slowly.

"O...kay." I drew out the word, still confused. I looked back at the street, where more cars were clearly having trouble. "C'mon."

**Emily's POV**

"Em!" I heard Charlotte shout, but my eyes were locked on the car. I raised my hand, praying that this would work.

"Stop." I ordered, reaching out to the car's GPS with my mind. My abilities wouldn't work on the car itself, but the on-board computer GPS that controlled the autopilot? They should still obey my commands, even malfunctioning the way it was. Right?

Much to my relief, the car braked instantly, skidding to a stop mere inches away from me. I let out the breath I'd been holding and dropped down to the ground, my knees weak with relief; I wasn't entirely sure that was going to work, and it was way too close of a call for my liking.

"Emily!" A hand pulled on my arm, tugging me back to my feet, but it wasn't Charlotte. "Are you okay?" Kira demanded, eyes wide. I nodded.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were walking home on your own?" This wasn't even close to my place.

"We got lost." Kameron admitted, eyeing the road cautiously. I smiled cheekily, then ran to the car. The drivers had fled sometime after I'd stopped it, leaving the doors wide open. "I think it's stopped, Em. The cars don't seem to be running after the initial crash."

"Yeah, well, I need this one to work." I muttered. I sat down in the driver's seat, then looked at the others. "Don't worry about me - go try and help the others. I've got an idea."

"Suit yourself." Charlotte nodded, about to leave with the twins. I frowned when I found that GPS had indeed shut down. I couldn't do anything if it wasn't working right.

"Wait!" I called after them. They all stopped, looking at me as if awaiting orders. "Which one of you is the sparky one?"

"Present!" Kameron raised a hand. I nodded and motioned for him to come over while the other girls ran off to help people. "What do you need?"

"My dad once told me that your mom was able to power the entire penthouse once when there was a power outage and the backup generation broke down." I told him. "Any idea how she did that?"

"Yeah, I think...let's try this." Kameron placed his hand on the front of the car's dashboard, right next to the GPS system. He frowned in concentration, and suddenly, the screen came to life.

"Awesome. Keep doing...whatever it is that you're doing." I told him.

"Aye-aye, captain." He joked. I smiled a little at that before raised one hand, using my fingers to shift through the code in the device. "What are you doing, anyway?"

"I'm trying to figure out what's doing this." I replied as I started scanning through everything. "If this is happening in multiple vehicles, it's not just a random malfunction."

"You think it's a virus?" Kameron questioned. I nodded.

"It makes sense." I answered, just as my Davenwatch began to beep. "Uh, I need my eyes on the screen. Can you see who it is?"

"Your mom." He replied, craning his neck to try to avoid having to read the name out loud. I shook my head at him, gesturing for him to dismiss the call - now wasn't exactly a great time.

"Alright, I think I found the problem. It's affecting all vehicles with this brand of autopilot." I frowned, bothered by what I had frowned. It wasn't a virus like we'd originally thought, but rather a malicious update that had sent the cars out of control.

"You think you can fix it?" Kameron questioned. He sucked in a breath. "Oh, dang."

"Maybe. What happened?" I demanded as I started to rewrite the code to try and fix the problem. Once I fixed it here, I could send it to the other vehicles as a forced update.

"Car exploded." He mentioned. I raised my head in alarm. "No, it's okay. Kira got the people out in time."

"Alright." I muttered, focusing. "Alright, I got it."

"You sure?" Kameron questioned. I bit my lip.

"We'll see." I replied, sending the code out to the other vehicles. I turned to him. "Let's go join the others, shall we?"

**Sera's POV**

"And then, I just flew in and pulled the guy out of his seat. I've never seen anyone look more confused in my life." Kira laughed as we stepped out of the elevator.

Thankfully, the update Emily had created in the middle of all that chaos today had stopped the cars from malfunctioning - it didn't do much to help the cars that had already crashed, but it prevented any more accidents caused by the GPS. We'd all gotten to Davenport Tower at the same time, and were going back through everything we'd done today.

"It was actually pretty cool-oh." Charlotte stopped in the doorway to the penthouse. Confused, I looked past her to see Katherine Dooley, Leo Dooley, Naomi, Ben, and Calla all waiting for us in the living room. None of the parents looked too happy, though Ben and Naomi seemed to be neutral on whatever it was that was upsetting them. "Hi."

"You all have your Davenwatches on, right?" Calla demanded. We all glanced at the our wrists, where the watches were all attached.

"Yes...?" Noah answered, confused.

"Learn to answer them." She told us, tone annoyed and frustrated. "I've been calling you all for the past hour."

"Sorry." Emily apologized sincerely. "It's just...it wasn't a great time for calls."

"Your mom calls you, especially when the city is like this, you pick up." Leo warned. He glanced at Charlotte. "Same goes for you."

"All of you, actually. It goes for all of you." Calla corrected.

"We're sorry." Kira told her. "But you wouldn't believe the day we've had."

"Oh, I think we might." Ben cleared his throat, nodding at the TV. Though it was muted, I could see flashes of footage and photos from today, mostly of the wrecks and what was going on. Several of them showed the six of us helping people, as well as images of Katherine, Leo, Calla, Ben, and Spin and AJ Henigs-Krane doing their part. Even Naomi was in one of them, having abandoned her camera to help an elderly man climb out the back of a wrecked bus.

I glanced at Calla. "You did say you wouldn't get upset at any of us for using our powers if we had a good reason for it." I pointed out. Emily smirked a little, ducking her head so her mom wouldn't see it.

"Well, I was kinda hoping you guys could stay out of trouble for at least 24 hours first." Calla said in exasperation, sitting down on the couch. She sighed. "But you're right, I did say that, and you're not in trouble." We all let out sighs of relief. "That being said, not getting caught was one of the rules. You're not in trouble - it wasn't your fault - but I hope you all know how lucky it was that I managed to get a friend of mine to get rid of the footage of you guys using your abilities."

"They understand, Calla." Naomi assured her, giving us a stern look of her own.

"Wait." Noah frowned, looking at the adults suspiciously. "If we're not in trouble, why are we getting the welcome wagon?"

"Dude!" Emily shot him a look, trying to silence him.

"Because what happened today ain't gonna be happenin' again." Katherine told us.

"What do you mean?" Kira asked. She looked at us to see if any of the rest of us had any idea what Katherine was talking about. "We helped people."

"You ran into a very dangerous situation, and you could have very easily gotten yourselves killed." Ben corrected.

"Yeah, but we helped people." Kira insisted, still looking confused. Ben glanced at Naomi, Calla, Leo, and Katherine, looking for some help.

"It was reckless and dangerous." Calla told her.

"You guys would do that same thing. Dad, you were younger than me when you went on your first mission." Charlotte pointed out. "And Uncle Adam, Aunt Bree, and Uncle Chase started missions around the same time."

"And had it not been for Adam, Bree, and Chase, I would have blown up in a train full of nucloneum." Leo pointed out. Calla nodded.

"Adam, Bree, and Chase were trained to do thing like that. They were taught how to handle situations like that, and you weren't. You could have gotten hurt." Calla stressed.

"We're trained." Kameron muttered to his sister.

"Messing around with Twilight doesn't count as training. Your sidekick training doesn't start until next year." Ben spoke up, having heard him. Kameron scowled, annoyed.

"Well, then, you should train us." I spoke up. Calla looked at me.

"Excuse me?" She questioned. Emily smiled, looking at me.

"Yes." She agreed, turning to her mom. "Sera's right; you should train us to be heroes like Dad."

Three different voices told us "No" at the same time.

"Why not? Clearly we're good at saving people." Charlotte agreed, pointing at the TV screen. "And if you train us, it won't be so 'reckless and dangerous'."

"We could be the new Elite Force." Kameron agreed.

"Not happening." Leo told us.

"Why not?" Noah protested.

"Well, first of all, you're not even supposed to have powers," Calla sent Noah a look that silenced him, "and second of all, your parents sent you here because it was safe."

"I'm pretty sure that trainin' you to fight ain't what they 'ad in mind." Katherine added.

"Kath's right. They wouldn't be very impressed, and frankly, they're right." Leo agreed. Charlotte pushed in between Emily and I to stand in front of all of us, her arms crossed.

"If you didn't want me to be a hero, why'd you give me bionics?" She demanded.

"Because we want you to have a choice." Leo explained gently. "When you're an adult."

"This isn't fair." Kira argued. "Kameron and I are going to be sidekicks anyway."

"In the future, yes, but not right now." Ben told them. Naomi sighed.

"Why don't we discuss this again in the morning?" She suggested. Calla shook her head.

"No, this is the last time we're discussing it." She insisted. She looked at us. "You're not going to train, and you're going to avoid using your abilities unless you absolutely have to. That's my final answer." Her expression softened. "Trust me guys, it's much safer this way."

"Whatever." "Fine." We all grumbled in response. Calla sighed, then clapped her hands together.

"Alright, I'm sure you all have homework." She changed the topic. "If you guys finish it before dinner, maybe we can rent a movie, alright?"

No one seemed too enthusiastic as we made our way up the stairs. "Noah, Emily, stick around." Calla added as Noah headed for the door. I saw Emily's expression - briefly panicked and nervous before she reeled it in, forcing a neutral, if not confused, look onto her face. She started back down the stairs as the twins and Charlotte went up, while I stuck around on the stairs, curious.

"So...superspeed." Leo announced. "You two want to explain this?"

"Explain what?" Emily's voice was full of innocent confusion.

"She didn't know anything about it, Uncle Leo." Noah said then.

"Really?" Calla didn't sound like she was buying it. "How'd you get the bionics then?"

"I borrowed the schematics from Great Uncle Douglas' computer, and then I just copied it. It took me a while to get everything right, but I eventually figured it out."

"Really?" Leo hummed. "You didn't have any help?"

"No." Noah said firmly.

"Emily?" Katherine questioned.

"I don't know what you guys are talking about." The girl genius insisted.

"...Okay." Calla decided. "I hope that is the case, because implanting a piece of untested technology into someone without an expert present would be really risky."

"I know. I would never do that." Emily told her.

"Alright, you can go." Calla allowed. I heard Emily's footsteps come towards the stairs. "However, if I ever find out that you did do something that dangerous, you will be grounded, understood?"

"Totally." Emily tossed over her shoulder, making her way up the stairs. She stopped when she saw me, and I gave her a look to let her know that I definitely didn't believe that she was all that innocent. Then I shrugged, not particularly wanting to get involved, and slid closer to the wall to let her by. To my surprise, she sat down next to me, also listening in on the conversation.

"So...how much trouble am I in?" Noah questioned. Calla sighed.

"None...from us. Your parents on the other hand, well I don't expect they'll be too happy about it when they find out."

"Are you going to tell them? I know they're supposed to check in at some point."

"Their first check in won't be for a couple of months, but yes, we do have to tell them." Leo told him. Emily sighed, looking upset.

"Can I tell them?" Noah asked. There was a pause, where I assume someone answered non-verbally. "Thanks."

"Alright, you want to stay for dinner?" Calla offered. Noah hesitated.

"Who's cooking?" He asked bluntly. I heard Leo, Katherine, Ben, and Naomi all laugh.

"You know what? I'm done!" Calla declared, only earning more laughter from the others.

**Xxx**

Sometime in the middle of the night, I was shaken awake, none too gently, by Emily. "What?" I demanded, sitting up. She was sitting on the edge of my bed, clad in a dog bone-themed PJ top and sweatpants.

"You sleep really deeply." She explained. I sighed, sitting up.

"If this is about my snoring, invest in earplugs." I told her. She looked at me, surprised. "Yeah, I know it's been bothering you, but I can't help it."

"I'm not used to a roommate, or living with anyone else for that matter. It's weird." She explained, picking at a loose thread on my comforter. "I'll stop complaining though."

"It's...is that why you woke me up, or was there something else?" I asked, softening my tone. She nodded, smiling brightly.

"Team meeting. Mission Command." She told me, standing up and heading for the door. I frowned.

"What team?" I questioned before tossing my sheets off of me and following her.

**Emily's POV**

"Okay, I know I'm a morning person, but this is WAY too early in the morning to be awake." Charlotte yawned as she walked into mission command. Her hair was a mess, frizzy and uncombed. Noah and Kameron both looked like they wanted to agree - my cousin hadn't even bothered to get dressed before coming here.

"Alright, we're all here." Kameron yawned tiredly, sitting on the ground underneath my mom's computer desk. "What's up?"

"Look, there's something that Calla's not telling you about what happened today." Naomi told us, pacing the floor. She had been the one to call this team meeting, and was one of the only ones wide awake.

"Wait, are we actually getting in trouble?" Kira questioned, sitting on top of the cyber computer.

"Hold on." Noah stopped Naomi from answering. He looked at me, then gestured at the ceiling. I shook my head, catching on immediately.

"MISS is down while she runs some updates. Mom won't notice." I assured them all.

"Alright, what's Calla not telling us?" Sera asked.

"That whole autopilot fiasco? It wasn't an accident." Naomi announced. Everyone started to exchange looks.

"What do you mean?" Noah questioned.

"She means that t wasn't some mistake that freaked out the GPS, or a virus. They all went haywire because of an update someone purposefully put in the system. All the vehicles using that brand of autopilot were meant to go crazy." I explained. I looked at Naomi. "It wasn't the company that did it though."

"How can you tell that?" Kira asked, frowning.

"Because the update was uploaded through an external server, not one of the companies." Naomi explained, glancing at me. "I'm guessing that's what you found when you went through the update?"

"Yeah. I tried to track where it originated from, but the signal bounced around so many times that I got lost." I explained.

"Calla too." Naomi confirmed.

"So, what you're saying is that someone tried to cause all those accidents, and we have no way of figuring out who?" Kameron confirmed. "Why would they do that?"

"Well, as it turns out, while all the analysts at the company were busy trying to get their vehicles back under control, someone snuck in and got access to their digital files." Naomi explained. "And before you ask, no, we don't know what files they accessed because they pretty much wiped the system after they were done. The backups too."

"That's going to cripple them for months." Emily realized.

"Okay, that's bad and stuff, by why you'd have to wake us up at 2 AM to tell us that?" I questioned. "Why does Calla not want us to know?"

"She doesn't want you to know because Miles DeCook doesn't think it's just a one-off thing." Naomi explained.

"Who's Miles DeCook?" I asked.

"Head of the Super Human Investigation and Response Team. Some of the bigger tech companies, the ones that are capable of doing things like creating advanced weaponry or bionics, have contracts with them." Emily explained. She looked at Naomi. "The company that made the GPS, was it Explority?"

"Blizzard Corp." Naomi replied. Emily shrugged.

"Are they going to hit more tech companies? Like Davenport Industries?" Kameron worried. Charlotte shook her head.

"I'd be surprised if they did. Blizzard Corp works mostly in robotics and related tech. I don't even think DI does business with them." She assured him.

"We don't. I doubt they'll target the company next." Emily agreed. She looked at Naomi. "Does Miles think that they're attacking tech companies though?"

"He's not sure. But Calla thinks that whatever it is, she, Leo, Katherine, Spin, and AJ can handle it."

"You don't think so." I realized. She shook her head.

"No, I don't. Six people died today, even with all of us helping. And clearly whoever this is is willing to go to great lengths to do whatever it is that they're trying to do."

"So, what's the plan?" Noah questioned. Naomi looked around at us.

"I know Calla, Ben, and Leo already said no, but this city needs a team to protect it." She told us, her tone soft and serious.

"An Elite Force." Kira grinned. Naomi nodded.

"We can figure out training later, but for now...who's in?"

Kira was the first to reply. "Hell yes, I'm in."

"It is our turn to play hero, don't you think?" Charlotte agreed. Noah sighed.

"My parents are already going to kill me for my bionics, might as well do good with them while I can." He replied.

"Count me in." I added. Sera smiled.

"Let's be heroes." She nodded. Kameron sighed.

"Far be it for me to stand in the way of heroism. I'm in." He announced. Naomi smiled.

"Alright. Time to play hero." She declared.


	3. Behind Their Backs

**Naomi's POV**

"Okay, it is way too early for this." Charlotte yawned, rubbing the back of her neck as she walked into Mission Command. Her long, black hair was braided over her left shoulder, as per usual, but she was still in her PJs. Kira frowned at her.

"It's 8 AM." The blonde girl stated. Charlotte nodded.

"Exactly." She agreed. Kira furrowed her brow, having already been up for two hours, and in that time had gone for a run with Emily, made breakfast, and beat two levels on a video game she had brought with her from New York. Unlike Charlotte, she was fully dressed too - wearing a pair of pink shorts and a white t-shirt that read 'Cardio Princess' in matching pink letters.

"Well, now that we're all here," I cleared my throat. Seraphina raised her hand from where she was sitting behind one of the computer desks. "Yes, Seraphina?"

"Noah's not here." She pointed out.

"He got stuck working an early shift. Sucker." Emily told her, sitting cross-legged on the ground with Helix in her lap and a cup of coffee in her hands. She too was still in her PJs, her brown hair tied up loosely in a messy bun. "And I agree with Charlotte - it's too early for this."

"Didn't you have to be up in an hour anyway?" Sera questioned.

"Yeah, in an hour." She stressed the last word. Sera just shook her head at the technokinetic and shared an exasperated smile with Kira.

"Guys!" I tried again, this time getting everyone's attention. "Look, guys, we don't have too many opportunities to train in Mission Command like this. Luckily, Calla, Leo, and Ben got called into S.H.I.R.T. for the day, so we have free reign of the Mission Command until they get back."

"So what's the plan?" Charlotte questioned, finally sitting down next to Kameron.

"I thought we could run through some of my sibling's old missions, see how you guys all fare against the challenges. That way we can get a better idea of what your abilities are."

"Well, that's not fair." Kameron protested, much to my surprise. I looked at him.

"Okay?" I said questioningly. He gestured at Emily and Charlotte.

"They already know how their parents dealt with the missions. They'll have an advantage." He explained.

"What in the world would give you that idea?" Charlotte demanded. Emily snorted in amusement.

"They won't tell us half the stories we know they have." She agreed. Sera frowned.

"Your parents didn't tell you about all their missions from when they were younger?" She asked, seeming confused by the revelation. "My parents told me everything. At least, I think they told me everything."

"Well, in my mom's words, it's to 'not encourage behaviors like ma Papa's'." Charlotte explained, briefly adopting an accent similar to Katherine's.

"That, and S.H.I.R.T. all but classified everything that happened prior to Dad, Uncle Leo, Aunt Bree, and Uncle Adam agreeing to work with the government." Emily added with a shrug and a smirk. "I think it looks better for them if they try to pretend that they always worked for them, rather than acknowledge the fact that there were basically superheroes working for a millionaire with a basement lab without their knowledge."

"What do you know?" Kameron questioned, still a little suspicious. Emily thought about it for a moment.

"Some random stuff, mostly stuff from after they started working with the government. Before that...I think there was something about a train, maybe an avalanche, and there was something about Great Uncle Dougy, but we don't talk about that for some reason." She replied, a deep frown on her face.

"Dad says since he's not trying to kill anyone anymore and he makes great baba ghanoush, we should focus on that." Charlotte chimed in. Kameron stared at her for a moment, trying to see if she was serious.

"I want to meet your Great Uncle Dougy." He decided. Charlotte beamed.

"You should." She replied cheerfully. Sera looked at Kira.

"Did Uncle Kaz and Aunt Dani tell you guys all their stories?" She inquired.

"Mostly." Kameron replied. Kira paused.

"All except for the Grandma thing. Do you know what that's about?" She asked. Sera bit her lip, clearly not wanting to answer. "Oh my God, you do!"

"Who wants to go first for training?" I asked loudly, changing the topic. Emily raised her hand. "Awesome!"

"Actually, I was raising my hand to tell you I can't do training today." She admitted sheepishly. I gave her a look. "Hey, it's a school thing - I have to meet Darius at the library and work on this stupid project with him."

"You love chemistry." I pointed out, confused.

"The science isn't the problem, it's my partner." She admitted.

"He beat her in class last week." Charlotte added. Emily shot her a glare.

"Would you stop telling people that?" She demanded, sounding genuinely annoyed with her at this point. I chuckled.

"Alright, you're excused." I assured her. She nodded and climbed to her feet.

"C'mon Helix!" She patted her leg, leading the dog to the hyperlift. I looked at the others.

"Any other volunteers?" I inquired.

**Xxx**

"Alright, Kira, Kameron, I have a real treat for you guys." I clapped my hands together, smiling as the twins got ready for their first mission simulation. Charlotte had gone back to bed (it was a miracle that I'd managed to get her out of bed before 10 on a Saturday anyway), while Sera was upstairs, keeping an eye out for anyone we didn't want to see us doing this in mission command and keeping Kameron's tarantula company (she found the eight-legged creature a lot more interesting than Calla did). "You guys ready for this?"

"Please, we're basically superheroes already." Kameron insisted, running a hand through his spiky black hair. Beside him, his sister looked equally excited, her deep brown eyes sparking at the thought of the challenge.

"Alright, so this wasn't strictly a mission, per say, but it is a problem that Leo, Chase, Calla, and my dad had to deal with back in the day." I declared, stepping to the side so that they were facing the rock wall.

"Bring it." Kira insisted. I smiled a little at her enthusiasm, and hit a button on the tablet in front of me.

"And behind door number one is..." I announced loudly as the rock wall slid upwards to reveal their opponent. Standing at about 5'2 and clad in a black pantsuit was the metal robot fashioned to look like my siblings' old high school principal, all the way down to the red-haired wig, "...Robo Perry!"

Kira and Kameron stared at it for a second. "Are you kidding me?" Kira demanded.

"Why, why do you have a robot of our gym teacher?" Kameron questioned.

"I think the better question is why my dad has a robot of your gym teacher." I replied. I pressed a button on the tablet, activating the robot. The moment she moved, both twins flinched back, already wary of the machine. "Now, originally built for military use, Robo Perry here can match Aftershock in strength, and, for extra measure," I paused as a blast of laser vision shot from Robo Perry's eyes and hit the rock wall behind Kira. The blonde snapped her head towards where the blast had hit before turning back to stare at Robo Perry with wide eyes, "we added lasers."

"You're insane." Kameron informed me before glancing at his sister, silently asking her how she wanted to handle this. They didn't say anything, and I knew that they didn't have the same telepathic connection that Oliver and Dani had, so I was curious about how this would play out.

In the end, it was Kira that charged at the robot first. She flew at Robo Perry, feet not touching the ground but still staying rather closer to the ground, in an attempt to catch her off guard. Instead of trying to grab at Perry though, she instead raised her fist, and a ball of flames shot from her knuckles. The fire hit Perry directly in the chest, and Kira lunged at Perry, hoping to tackle her to the ground.

However, Robo Perry grabbed her by the wrist, twisting it hard and forcing Kira back to the ground. The pyrokinetic let out a whimper of pain, trying to get free, and Kameron sprung into action himself.

"Hey, metal-mouth!" Well, at least he was half-decent at coming up with insults for the villains we might face. That was something. Robo Perry looked towards Kameron just as he flew at her. He didn't bother using any power but his flight abilities, literally slamming into Robo Perry's shoulder. It wasn't much - it was harder than expected to catch a robot set to 'Search and Incapacitate' off guard - but the sudden blow did give Kira the chance to escape.

She stumbled backwards, away from Robo Perry just as Kameron flew back a couple of feet. "Blast her!" Kira shouted at him. Instead of doing as he was told, Kameron turned to stare at his twin.

"You want me to electrocute the metal robot, while you're standing on the same metal floor as it?" He asked. Kira didn't answer his question, just gesturing at the robot. I, meanwhile, was suddenly grateful that my shoes that rubber soles in them.

"Kam!" Kira shouted as Perry sent a laser beam at him. He turned around to try and defend himself, but it was too late - the laser caught him in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground.

"Kee!" He called, waving his hand at the robot. Kira nodded, clearly understanding more from that gesture than I did, and raised both her hands. A larger blast of fire hit Perry, strong enough to slide her back a foot.

Kameron, meanwhile, climbed to his feet. I raised my chin, trying to decide if he was hurt or not, but he waved me off before clearing his throat. Kira suddenly stopped her fiery blast and lunged at Robo Perry, just like before. This time, however, her arms were crossed and she aimed for Robo Perry's shoulder instead of her chest. The blow was enough to knock Robo Perry back a few more feet, into the tunnels.

"All yours!" Kira called, flying away from Robo Perry before she could get a hold of the pyrokinetic.

Kameron raised his hands, but instead of blasting Robo Perry, he raised his hands towards the ceiling and sent a blast of electricity towards the top of the tunnel's archway. The blast short circuited the tunnel door, and the rock wall slid back down, effectively cutting Robo Perry off from the twins.

"Does that count?" Kira asked me, a little breathless. I quickly de-activated Robo Perry from my tablet.

"I guess." I hadn't been entirely sure how that was going to go anyway.

"That could have gone better." Kameron commented. I shrugged. "How did Leo, Calla, Chase, and Mr. Davenport stop Robo Perry?"

"They didn't. Real Perry ripped her head off." I replied. Looking up, I saw the horrified looks on the twins' faces. "Have fun in gym class on Monday." I told them before starting to prepare the next simulation.

**Emily's POV**

"Well, this was a waste of time." I muttered, closing the book in front of me. Dad had always said that the one of the reasons we still had libraries were because books (real ones, not just the online ones) could still be extremely useful to us, but after hours of pouring over a stack of chemistry books with Darius, we still had no idea what we were going to do our term project on. Not that Darius had been particularly helpful - all of his ideas had come straight out of the textbook, and I'd wanted to do something really original for class.

"You do know that we don't need to give Mr. Perez the topic of our assignment for another three weeks, right? It's barely the second week of September." Darius pointed out, leaning back in his seat and rubbing at his eyes. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, but I'd like to get a head start on it. It's our senior year - we have college applications, SATs, exams, graduation...I don't want to have to worry about this while we're in the middle of all that." I explained. He shrugged. I sighed. "This isn't working though."

"Why don't we take a break?" Darius suggested. I looked at him and he gestured at the books. "We've been focusing for too long. Why don't we take a break and come back to it later with fresh eyes?"

"Okay." I agreed reluctantly. I glanced at the library's coffee shop. "You want to grab a late lunch?"

"You can if you want, I'm not hungry." Darius replied, closing his own book. I looked at him suspiciously.

"It's nearly three. We've been here all day. How are you not hungry?" I questioned, surprised. He licked his lips, glancing back at the coffee shop.

"I don't have any money on me." He admitted. I sighed and got up.

"C'mon," I gestured with my head at the coffee shop. "My treat."

"What's the catch?" He asked slowly, frowning at me.

"There has to be one?" I replied. He didn't move, so I shrugged. "I got you up early on a Saturday, figure I kinda owe you."

That got him moving, but he still looked confused. "You told me to be here by ten. How is that early?"

**Xxx**

Despite the fact that I offered to pay, Darius barely got anything, just grabbing a muffin and a small coffee. I got myself a salad and a latte, and was quite content to eat while skimming over the instructions for the chemistry project again. The teacher wasn't very specific, just that we had to come up with something that we could show at the science fair, and that it had to show our understanding of the stuff we were learning in class. Easy enough, but I wanted to make sure ours stood out. M.I.T. didn't take just anyone, after all.

I briefly glanced up as Darius' holophone vibrated. He picked up the device and a message appeared a few inches above it, though I couldn't quite read it from here.

"How come you don't have a holowatch?" I asked, curious. Most people were using them these days (I was proud to say that Davenport Industries was at the top of that market) and had given up on holophones ages ago.

"I like the phones better. You can do more on them." He reasoned. I frowned.

"But that's why the holowatches come with tablets...so you can play games and stuff." I replied. He shrugged. "So, who's texting you anyway?"

"Nosy, much?" He asked. I smirked, sensing that he wasn't really annoyed.

"I prefer 'curious'." I replied.

"Didn't curiosity kill the cat?" He teased.

"Yes, but satisfaction brought it back." I replied. "Plus, I'm a dog person."

He chuckled at that. "I'll keep that in mind." He told me. I shrugged.

"You don't have to tell me." I mentioned. He shook his head.

"I think I do, actually. It's from Matt." He replied. "Asking about Charlotte."

I must have made a face, because he frowned at me. "You don't like us, do you?"

"I didn't say that." I replied.

"Your face kinda did." He replied. "And the fact that anytime we've hung out with Charlotte outside of class, you avoid us. The only times you've talked to me have been in class, or today, while we were working on school stuff. What did we do?"

"Nothing, I..." I sighed, realizing that he did have a point. "I'm sorry. It's not you..."

"If you finish that sentence with 'it's me', I will walk out of here." Darius threatened. I rolled my eyes. "Seriously, what's up? For real?"

"Look, it's..." I tried to figure out how to explain. "It's Charlotte, actually."

"Charlotte?" He repeated. I nodded. "You wanna elaborate on that?"

I sighed. "Do not tell her I told you this." I warned. He nodded, making an X across his chest in a childish way. "She has a thing for your friend Matt-"

Darius chuckled at that. "Yeah, I didn't need you to tell me that. We know."

"Wonderful. Real subtle, Char." I muttered to myself.

"Hey, if it makes things better, he likes her too. His text was to see if you knew if she was seeing anyone." Darius offered. I shook my head.

"That doesn't make things better, actually." I replied. I looked at him. "She has this habit of falling too hard for guys that aren't worth it, and she gets hurt. The last time she had a crush like this, I had to buy her a smoothie every morning for a month just so that she wouldn't be miserable the entire day." I explained. I paused, realizing what I'd said. "No offense to you or Matt."

"You think he's going to hurt her though." It wasn't a question. I gave her an apologetic smile.

"I've met guys like him. The ones that seem too good to be true. So yeah, I do." I replied. He nodded thoughtfully.

"Okay, so why don't you like me?" He asked after a long moment. I blinked, surprised at the question.

"You're his best friend." I said, thinking it would have been obvious.

"So that automatically makes me just like him?" Darius challenged. I nodded. "Wow. Okay, you're...wow."

"What?" I demanded. He shook his head, looking annoyed.

"Charlotte's been going gaga over him for nearly a week now. She's overexcited half the time, really flirty, and was basically teaching our anthropology class with the way she kept interrupting the teacher to answer questions." He listed. "Should I assume that you're the same way?"

"No, anthropology is dumb." I replied. He raised a finger.

"I disagree. But you're right that I shouldn't assume you're the same way, because you're not exactly like her and that would be wrong." He told me, shaking his head. "You want to dislike Matt because you think he's bad for her? That's your prerogative. But don't make assumptions about me."

He turned back to his book, picking it up and diving into it immediately. I sighed. "You're right." I said after a while. "Sorry."

"You should be." He agreed, flipping the page. I blinked at him, not expecting that response.

"I'm really sorry?" I tried again. He glanced at me over the top of the book, then sighed and placed it down.

"How about this? I won't judge you based off of your terrible first impression," I opened my mouth at that, but was unable to argue, "and you don't judge me because of what you assume about Matt. Deal?"

"Deal." I agreed. He nodded and went back to his book, flipping the page again almost immediately. I shrugged and grabbed my fork, starting to dig into my salad.

"So, I guess this means you're not going to give me Charlotte's number to give to Matt?" He asked after a while, eyes trained on the page in front of him, even though his tone was light.

"God, no." I replied instantly, not even looking up from my food.

"Just checking."

**Naomi's POV**

"So how come I get to do my simulation solo?" Charlotte inquired, stretching a little as she walked into the tunnel from mission command. I glanced up from my tablet and smiled at her. "It's because I'm just that good, right?"

"Actually, it's because I'm already pretty familiar with your abilities, and because Noah's going to go with Seraphina when he gets back from work." I replied. She nodded.

"It's because I'm just that good." She decided, completely disregarding everything I'd just said. I chuckled a little.

"Sure. It's because you're just that good." I agreed, earning a grin from the younger girl. "Alright, did Leo ever tell you about the first time he went on a mission?"

"Yeah, he snuck onto a high-speed train. Ooh, do I get to stop a high-speed train?" She beamed. I frowned, glancing down at my notes.

"Okay, I think I mean the first time he officially went on a mission, because there's nothing in the train mission report about him being there." It wouldn't surprise me if he'd be removed from the report if he'd snuck on board the train, especially since the incident happened back before the world knew about bionics. "The one with the toxic gas leak?"

"No...meh, not as cool as stopping a high-speed train, but it'll do." Charlotte shrugged. "What happened?"

"Well, for some reason Adam, Bree, and Chase couldn't go on the mission, so Leo, my dad, Calla, and Eddy went without them."

"Eddy?" Charlotte repeated. "How did Eddy go on a mission?"

"Uh..." I wasn't sure, to be honest, though a better question would be why he went on the mission rather than how. I mean, it's not like Calla or Leo would have invited him. Hell, leaving him behind in Mission Creek was on my pro-list for going to school in Centium City. "We'll question that later. For now, let's focus on the mission. There was a major gas leak at a toxic chemical plant and they had to stop the plant from exploding and releasing the chemical into the air."

"Fun." Charlotte nodded sarcastically. I smiled a little.

"Okay, so obviously I'm not going to release a toxic chemical into the tunnels-" I began, only for Charlotte to cut me off with a smirk.

"Party Pooper." She teased. I gave her a look.

"Can you take this seriously?" I requested. She sighed and nodded.

"Okay, serious. Got it." She agreed.

"We're going to use tear gas instead." I continued, handing her a helmet off a rocky ledge. "It's got lower concentrations of most of the chemicals, so even if you breathe it in, it's not going to do any long term damage, but better safe than sorry. This thing at the back with filter in oxygen and filter out the gas, so you'll be able to breathe just fine with this on."

"Alright, so I just have to contain the leak and get in back in...where?" She questioned. I pointed to an air duct near the entrance to the tunnel.

"Right there. And you have to find a way to seal it so that it can't escape again. Without igniting the gas, either."

"So no using my EMPs, got it." Charlotte nodded, pulling on the helmet. I gestured to mission command.

"I'm going to be out there, but I'll be watching on the cameras, and I can hear you if anything goes wrong." I told her. She nodded before double checking that the helmet was working properly.

"Bring it." She told me, giving me a thumbs up. I nodded and walked back out to mission command, waving as I lowered the rock wall. I glanced at the screen on the wall to make sure I could see her perfectly, then pressed a button on my tablet to release the gas.

Through Charlotte's helmet, I could see this set, determined look on her face as the tear gas started spilling from the air duct. It was coming out fast, much faster than I'd thought it would, but in the end, it would better replicate a real-life scenario if it pushed her more. And besides, with Charlotte's abilities already cataloged, I was more testing to see how she could work under pressure.

After barely a moment's thought, Charlotte walked over to the air duct, only stopping when she was directly underneath it. She raised her hands, and her plasma force field began to form around her. She stretched her arms wide, growing the force field much larger than usual, until it encompassed the entirety of the air duct, as well as the rest of the gas that had escaped into the tunnel. I hummed thoughtfully - that was one way to contain it.

Then, she began to shrink the force field around her, keeping the force field up high so that, as it shrank, it still keep the air duct in the center of it. She shrank it as much as she could, keeping the gas inside of it even as she exited the force field. Now holding a plasma ball full of tear gas, and using its size to keep the rest of the gas from escaping into the room, Charlotte needed to figure out a way to prevent it anymore from escaping permanently - she couldn't just stand there forever, holding the plasma ball above her head.

She frowned as that seemed to occur to her too, clearly not having though this all the way through. She looked around the room desperately, then up at the air duct itself.

Charlotte adjusted her position a bit, trying to hold onto the plasma ball with one hand while reaching for the air duct with the other. She just barely managed it, slipping her fingers through the plasma ball so that she could touch the metal slates of the grate. One by one, she managed to close them so that no more gas could get out.

She stepped back, still holding the gas filled plasma ball. No more gas would try to enter the room, so technically the mission was complete, but she couldn't release the plasma ball without releasing the gas. Judging by her expression, she was stumped.

"How did Dad do this the first time?" She called. I glanced at the mission notes.

"They turned on a fan and killed Eddy." I replied, speaking through a microphone. Oh, maybe that's why they took him on the mission...

"Hey MISS?" Charlotte asked loudly.

 _"Killing me will accomplish nothing, Miss Charlotte."_  The AI replied instantly. Charlotte grinned, always pleased by the AI's rare attempts at humor.

"How much will turning on a fan accomplish?" She requested. In reply, a fan started gently sucking the air from the room. "Thanks, MISS." She called, releasing the plasma ball towards the fan. Once all the gas was gone, she turned to face the camera. "So, how was that?"

**Calla's POV**

"I've got a question for you." Leo caught up with me just as I made my way down the walkway towards the conference rooms in S.H.I.R.T.'s underground headquarters. "Make that two, actually."

"Well, if one of them is why Charlotte woke up at the crack of dawn to sneak into my apartment, I've got a theory, but no proof. Yet." I replied.

"Well, that does answer the question of 'do you know where Charlotte went this morning," Leo agreed. I nodded.

"What's the second question?" I inquired, pulling open the door to the conference room. Leo walked in, turning around as I followed him. Ben was already inside, playing on his phone.

"Are you eating an apple?" He questioned. I glanced at the piece of fruit in my hands, then shrugged.

"Chase must be getting to me. God knows I didn't eat this healthy before I married him." I joked. I hadn't really thought about it until now, just remembering to grab something out of habit. "Hey Ben. No Naomi?"

"Nah, she's helping Seraphina out with something." He replied. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Really?" I questioned suspiciously. He nodded, an innocent look on his face.

"Really. Are you eating an apple?" He asked, his tone equally suspicious.

"Oh my God, it's just an apple. Geez, it's like you've never seen me eat healthy before." I rolled my eyes.

"Guys, leave Calla alone." Miles told them as he walked into the room.

"Thank you." I grumbled.

"It's much more fun to make fun of her cooking than her food choices." He continued.

"I hate all of you." I declared loudly, earning chuckled from the men in the room. "Alright, why'd you call us in here, other than to make fun of me?"

"We need to discuss last week's attack." Miles explained, and the atmosphere turned serious. "We know it wasn't an accident, and I don't think it's a coincidence that they attacked Centium City."

"Why did they attack Centium City?" Ben inquired, frowning. "Because the Elite Force is gone?"

"There's no way whoever is behind this could figure that out so quickly. And besides, the team hasn't been active for years." Leo reasoned. "No, they most likely targeted Centium City because it's the biggest tech hub in the country at the moment."

"Between Davenport Industries, Blizzard Corp, and Explority, we're pretty much dominating the science world from this city." I agreed. "If you're looking for next level technology, this is the place to get it. The question is, is this the beginning?"

"We don't think so. All of our analysts agree that this points towards something bigger going on." Miles said. I shook my head; of course this would happen in the first couple of weeks since Chase left. As if I didn't have enough on my plate with the kids.

"Davenport Industries will help in whatever way we can. I'm not going to deny that Blizzard Corp's stock market falling isn't bad for business, but we could just as easily be next. I want to stop whoever these people are." I told him. He smiled.

"I appreciate that, but it may take more than just Davenport Industries. If there's another attack, we need more people defending the city." Miles started to pace. "With Chase gone, Leo and Katherine retired, and Spin splitting his time between here and Mission Creek, Ben can't do this alone."

"Katherine and I don't mind coming out of retirement for this." Leo said quickly. Miles nodded.

"Again, I appreciate that, but I don't think it'll be enough. We need more hands on deck, and with the NLH still dealing with the witchcraft fiasco from last year..." I grimaced at the memory; it hadn't been a great time for the League "...look, we just need more help and I don't know where we're going to get it."

"I might have an idea." Ben said slowly. We all looked at him, and he started, his tone cautious. "Look, I know we already told them no, but maybe Kira and the others have a point. They might be ready to take this on."

"Absolutely not." I shook my head. "We discussed this, Ben."

"Yes, but that was before we knew that the city could be under attack." He insisted. He looked at Leo and I pleadingly. "If someone attacks Centium City, they need to be ready. And you two are the best people to train them."

"I don't know, man. They're kids." Leo insisted. Ben gave him a look.

"I was seventeen when I started superheroing, and I know you guys started much younger than that." He pointed out. "Besides, you know them. They're going to do it anyway, with or without your permission. Might as well make sure they're doing it as safely as possible."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, leaning back in my chair. I didn't like the idea of this at all. It was reckless and dangerous and literally everyone on the space mission would kill me when they found out. But Ben did have a point - they would do it behind our backs if they felt they had to. Hell, I was pretty damn sure they were already doing it behind our backs. And if they didn't feel they could come to us, things could go from bad to worse just like that...

"Damn it." I muttered, shaking my head.

**Naomi's POV**

"Sorry, sorry. Blake dropped by work to surprise me and we started talking." Noah explained in a rush as he jogged into the tunnel, the long-haired brunet hastily pulling on a workout shirt so that he wouldn't risk getting his work uniform dirty. He stopped when he saw that Seraphina and I were waiting for him. "You guys haven't started without me, have you?"

"No, don't worry." I assured him. Sera cocked her head to the side, eyes narrowed curiously.

"Who's Blake?" She asked. Noah spared her a glance.

"My girlfriend. She goes to school at CCEU." He explained. "Sorry, I figure I can't really tell her about all of this, but I didn't want to lie to her either so I couldn't come up with an excuse to leave earlier."

"It's fine, but you're going to have to figure out how to keep it from her soon. Does she even know you're bionic?" I inquired. To my surprise, he nodded. "Noah!"

"Well, she had questions about the giant-ass capsule Emily and Ben set up in my dorm." He explained. I frowned.

"What capsule? Ben, bionic chips haven't needed to use capsules in ten years." I explained. He stared at me.

"Then why did Calla make them set up the capsule?" He demanded. "Why have I been sleeping in it?"

"Probably as punishment for getting the chip in the first place." I snickered. He glowered at me. "And technically, you do need something to recharge the bionic chip, but most bionic super humans use the portable chargers because they're quicker and less bulky."

"There are portable chargers?" Apparently Calla had completely left Noah in the dark. A little petty of her, maybe, but amusing to the rest of us.

"I'll steal you one next time I go back home, I promise." I assured him. "But basically you just scan your chip, your bionics will go offline for about an hour while it recharges, and then you're good to go."

"Seriously, Aunt Calla?" I heard him mutter. I tutted, shaking my head.

"You know, Emily really should have remembered that you'd need to charge your chip when she gave it to you." I mentioned. Noah sent me a look, but didn't say anything. I guess he was still adamant that my niece had nothing to do with his abilities. "Anyway, training time."

"Great." Noah looked relieved at the change of topic. Sera looked at me, a serious expression on her youthful features.

"What's the mission?" She asked. I smiled and gestured at the tunnel.

"It's an obstacle course. Technically, it's not based off an official mission, but I've heard Leo tell me the story a few times, so I think it counts." I explained.

"An obstacle course? That's it?" Sera seemed skeptical. I nodded.

"Don't underestimate it - Adam, Bree, Chase, Leo, and Calla all nearly died when they had to deal with this, and unlike them, you won't have a button you can press to shut everything down." I warned. "But yes, all you have to do is get through the obstacle course. Get to that line at the end, and then you're done."

"Easy as pie." Noah smirked. Sera nodded.

"Doesn't sound like it's too hard." She agreed. I nodded.

"Okay." I replied, hitting a button on my tablet. I'd spent four hours setting this part up, so I hoped it wasn't too easy for them to get past. "Whenever you're ready."

"There aren't any obstacles." Sera pointed out. I smiled.

"Whenever you're ready." I repeated myself. Noah and Sera exchanged looks, then slowly began to make their way forward, down the tunnel.

Their caution was smart - they'd barely made it more than a meter before a giant metal slate dropped from the ceiling to slam into the ground in front of them. There were two metal pipes on top of the slate, bringing it up and down so fast that any regular person that tried to get through there would be crushed.

"Whoa." Sera took a cautionary step back, watching it move. "That looks..."

"Yeah." Noah nodded, watching it uneasily. Sera licked her lips, then nodded to herself.

"I got this." She muttered, half to herself. She didn't try to explain herself before stepping closer to the crusher. She waited a few moments, watching the crusher carefully, before stepping halfway under it and grabbing it with her hand. To my and Noah's shock, she stopped the crusher in its tracks and though she was clearly struggling under its pressure, she did manage to successfully keep it still. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

"Right, sorry." Noah quickly ducked under the crusher, getting onto the other side of it. Sera quickly followed him, the crusher slamming into the ground inches behind her. "Super strength, nice."

Sera smiled, brushing her hair behind her shoulders. "Thank you."

"Nice job, Sera. Keep going, guys." I encouraged. They continued towards the end, only to stop when panels on either side of them opened up and metal blocks slid out, crashing into each other and then separating before crashing into each other again. They did this consistently, moving too fast for Sera to stop like she'd done with the previous obstacle.

"I don't know if I can stop that long enough for me to get through." Sera commented nervously, realizing the obvious. Noah nodded.

"No worries." He smiled and offered her his arm. "Grab on."

Sera didn't question him, only looping her arm around his. He very quickly sped through the obstacle as expected, the two of them moving so fast that they were a blur.

"You're halfway there, guys! Great work!" I called. They glanced back at me, then started down the tunnel once more. This time, it was four streams of fire jetting out of the roof of the tunnel.

"I think it's your turn." Noah commented to Sera. She rolled her eyes, then raised a hand. An icy mist burst from her hand, putting out the fires instantly. Not only did it extinguish the threat, but the ice coated the holes the fire had come from, buying them more time until more fire would melt the ice and shoot out once more. It wasn't much time, but more than enough for the two to get to the other side. Now, all they had to do was get past the final obstacle.

"Okay, this is ridiculous!" Noah shouted, wholly unimpressed with the giant spikes I had raise from the floor a few feet in front of them. The bed of spikes stretched three feet in front of them, and each of them were a foot in height. "What is this, a cartoon?"

"Can't get passed?" I asked.

"Oh, I didn't say that." Noah assured me. "This is just ridiculous."

He took a step back, then stepped forward and jumped into the air. To my surprise, he hovered about half a foot above the spikes for a moment before floating to the other side.

"You can fly?" I demanded once he landed. He shook his head, looking at the spikes in such a way that made me wonder if he had done that before.

"No, it's...it's more like controlled levitation. That was the highest I've managed." He explained.

"Oh, cool." I glanced at Sera, who was watching us with a frown. "If you can't do it, Sera, just let me know."

She shook her head. "Just waiting for Noah to move." She assured me. Noah frowned, but backed up several steps. She smirked and backed up a few feet, as far back as she could without getting singed by the fire.

Then, she rushed forward, leaping into the air at the last minute. She landed briefly on her hands, just in front of the spikes, before pushing off, propelling herself all the way across the spike bed before landing gracefully on her feet on the other side. Noah and I just stared at her, impressed by the feat of agility, while she looked confused. "What? Can't you guys do that?"

Noah and I exchanged looks. "No, no, that's definitely a Calderan thing." Noah told her, a slow grin forming on his face.

**Calla's POV**

"Hey," I greeted, walking through the door to the apartment. Unsurprisingly, everyone was home. Emily was on the couch, speaking with Naomi about something, while Noah was helping Sera with her homework and the twins were showing Charlotte some card game. "How was everyone's days?"

Everyone more or less said that it was good, keeping their answers short. I didn't miss the exchanged looks though, and neither did Leo.

"Oh, good, everyone's here." He smiled. Charlotte looked up, craning her head to look at him, obviously trying to guess why he'd come over. "Living room please."

The kids all exchanged looks as they moved to the living room. Naomi got up to make room for the rest, moving to lean against the wall next to Ben.

"So, how was your training today?" I got straight to the point.

Every single head except for Emily's turned to look at Naomi, who was staring at me in utter confusion.

"What training?" My daughter asked, pretending to be clueless. But she knew, and the rest of us knew, that everyone else's reactions had given them away.

"It doesn't matter." Leo commented, sitting on the back of the blue chair by the TV. "You guys won't be training behind our backs anymore."

"Because your training is being made official. Starting right now." Ben finished. Naomi looked at him quickly, staring at her best friend.

"What do you mean?" Kira asked quickly.

"We talked it over, and maybe you had a point about you being able to help people." I said slowly, watching their confusion turn to victory. "There will be rules," I warned before they could get too excited, "and Leo and I are in charge, so we get the final decision on everything, alright?"

"We're only agreeing to this because the city needs the extra help." Leo added. "The moment Chase, Bree, Jaden, Kaz, Dani, Oliver, and Skylar return, this team is retired, is that understood?"

"Got it." "Okay." "Sure." Each of them were quick to agree. I glanced at Leo.

"School still comes first, and again, absolutely no powers at school." I told them, having already agreed on the rules with Leo.

"Calla and I are in charge of training, but we won't be going out in the field with you." Leo continued. "If this is going to work, you need to be able to handle things on your own. That being said, if any mission comes up that we deem to dangerous, you will stay home while we handle it."

"If you're not going to be in charge in the field, who is? We need a leader." Emily pointed out, sitting up tall. I recognized the same prideful look in her eyes that Chase used to get before leading a mission; clearly she had an idea of who should be in charge.

"Naomi will be." Ben saved me from having to be the one to crush that idea.

"What? Why Naomi?" Kira demanded, frowning. The rest of them looked equally confused. Emily was staring at me, hurt written all over her face.

"She's done far more research than any one else on our past missions, for one. She may not have the actual experience, but she knows how we all would have dealt with similar situations in the past and therefore has an idea of what would work and what wouldn't." I explained, giving my daughter an apologetic look. I had known that she'd want to be mission leader, but the truth was, she wasn't right for the position, not yet anyway. Naomi was. "She's older, she's seen more than you guys have, and judging by the training exercises she put your through today, she had a good idea of what you guys can do and what you can handle."

"I don't have any abilities, or training." Naomi protested, looking at all of us, just as shocked as the others.

"You'll train with the rest of them." Leo assured her.

"And trust me, you don't need powers to be a hero." I added, giving her a reassuring smile. "I've got some toys you might like."

"You'll do fine." Ben promised her, squeezing her hand gently. He glanced at the others. "I'll be training with you guys as well, by the way. Naomi's going to be in charge in the field, but I'm going to be on the team as well."

"We'll start your training next week, once you're all a little more settled into school and after we've evaluated your abilities a little more." Leo explained. "Any questions?"

There was a brief pause, then Kameron raised his hand. "How'd you know we were training today?"

I smirked, sneaking a sly glance at Leo. "We can't reveal all our secrets." I told him, much to his disappointment. "Alright, anyone else?"

No one else seemed to have any other questions, so I set about to make dinner, while Leo and Charlotte went back home. I glanced at the kids, noticing the way Kameron and Noah started talking excitedly to themselves, while Kira a disappointed, but not quite sulking, Emily into telling her as many of the stories from my and Chase's youth as she knew. Naomi and Ben had gone out on the veranda to talk.

The others weren't going to be thrilled about this, I knew that already. Bree and Jaden had been very much against the idea of Noah and Justine growing up like Bree did, with all that danger and chaos in their lives. Skylar and Oliver had sent Seraphina here to protect her from becoming a vigilante. Chase and I had never intended for Emily to become a superhero, at least not before she finished school (we were both very pleased with how our lives turned out, but I knew my parents were still disappointed that I'd never gotten a college degree). Kaz and Dani…well, actually, they'd probably be super proud, but none of the others had ever planned for this to become their children's lives.

There wasn't much of a choice here – Miles was right, the city could be under attack, and it was better that the kids be prepared for the worst than be forced to deal with all that was to come without any preparation or training. But still, I couldn't help but wonder if that queasy feeling in my stomach was because I knew we might be making a big mistake.


	4. Balancing Act

**Calla's POV**

I stumbled back only a step, having managed to block the blow from the oncoming bo staff with a fair bit of ease. I didn't take more than a second to recover though, immediately lunging forward into my own attack instead. I drove my bo staff downwards, putting a fair bit of strength into the blow.

Emily raised her bo staff at the last minute, blocking the blow before spinning around to try and hit me from behind. I side-stepped the attack, pushing her forwards with my left hand.

"Too obvious. Anyone could see that coming." I told her, backing up to give her a brief break. She shook her head and looked at me.

"Dad was mission leader." She pointed out before coming at me again. This time, she moved to the side, sweeping her staff low to try and catch me off guard. I blocked it easily and smiled.

"I know he was; he still owns two T-shirts that say 'Mission Leader' on them." I agreed. She huffed in annoyance, then spun around to try and attack me again. Once again, I managed to block her attack, though this time she did almost got me - if I hadn't twisted my arm so that the bo staff blocked my upper right shoulder, she may have landed a blow.

"I've got powers, I've got the intelligence to strategize well, and being mission leader is literally in my blood." Emily insisted. I rolled my eyes, then stepped back as Emily spun around again, this time aiming for higher up. I raised my bo staff to catch her staff before giving her a look.

"You're not going to be mission leader, Emily." I told her sternly.

"Why not?" She protested. I raised an eyebrow, then spun around, sweeping my bo staff under her feet. She hit the ground with a thud and a noise of protest. I raised my bo staff again, pointing it at her chest.

Though I had absolutely no intention of actually hitting her, Helix immediately ran up to us, barking as he stepped between my daughter and the bo staff.

"Helix, no!" Emily sat up and reached for the Cavapoo, pulling her pet into her arms. "It's okay, buddy. It's just Mom."

I stood my bo staff up next to me. "What did you do wrong?" I asked patiently. Emily looked up at me, lips pressed together in a thin line.

"I agreed to a six AM sparring session with my mother who has been training with a bo staff for 25 years." She deadpanned I rolled my eyes and offered her my hand. She sighed and accepted it, allowing me to pull her up.

"No. Your fighting style is good, but you're basically just copying the moves from the training videos I showed you. You need to improvise, learn to adapt to your opponent." I explained. She sighed and I rubbed her shoulder. "You'll get it. It's the type of thing that comes with practice and experience."

"Is that why I'm not mission leader? Because I can't adapt?" She asked.

"Emily, this isn't about you not being a good choice for mission leader, okay? You're not a bad choice, but Naomi is the best choice." I told her. "Please don't take this personally. Maybe in the future, after you've gotten a little more experience and training, we'll talk about you maybe working with some of the bionic heroes."

"Really?" Emily's eyes widened.

"Maybe, in the future, we'll talk about it." I emphasized. "As in, after you've finished college. And I'm not promising anything."

"Got it." Emily nodded before biting back a yawn.

"You know," I mentioned as I grabbed a bottle of water off one of the computer desks. I forced myself to take a sip of it - my stomach was aching and feeling off, probably disagreeing with the two coffees I'd already had this morning - before handing it to my daughter, "if you didn't stay up so late, you wouldn't be tired in the mornings."

"Well, I didn't think you'd wake me up so early." Emily retorted. She looked at me. "Why were you so early anyway?"

"Had a weird dream about something going wrong with one of my prototypes, so I went to look over the schematics when I woke up instead of going back to sleep." I shrugged. I'd been sleeping weird since Chase left, not used to sleeping alone. It was hardly the first morning I'd woken up ridiculously early, unable to fall back asleep. Hell, it wasn't even the first time this week. "Besides, why are you complaining? You did say you wanted to get a little extra training."

"Yeah, not today. I thought you'd let me sleep in today of all days..." Emily muttered. I licked my lips and looked at her.

"Emily, it's not even a weekend. You had to get up at 7 anyway." I pointed out. She stared at me, blinking a few times.

"Yeah, but today..." She began. I shook my head.

"You having school does not exempt you from training. You literally asked for this, sweetie." I pointed out. She continued to stare at me.

"School? Is that what...you actually..." She seemed extremely confused. I rolled my eyes, glancing at my Davenwatch as I checked my texts.

"Alright, breakfast, c'mon." I told her after I was done, ushering her towards the hyperlift. She didn't protest, still evidently confused by my dismissal.

"Are you serious?" She asked, standing in front of the hyperlift. I nodded.

"Yes. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. C'mon." I encouraged. I pretended not to notice the look on her face as I gently pushed her into the hyperlift.

I smirked to myself as we were shot up to the main floor and couldn't help but laugh at Emily's expression when she saw what was waiting for her there.

In the hour that we'd been training, the rest of the kids had been busy. The living room had been filled with blue and yellow balloons, a pile of wrapped gifts and colorful bags had made its way onto the living room's coffee table, and in the kitchen, Kira was helping her brother light the candles on top of a cake-sized cinnamon bun.

Emily stared, dumbfounded at the scene before her as a chorus of "Happy Birthday" echoed around the room.

"Did you really think I'd forget your birthday?" I teased lightly, squeezing her shoulders gently before pushing her into the room.

**Kira's POV**

"So, we weren't entirely sure what you liked." Kameron admitted as Emily opened her birthday card. "Figured a gift card would be the way to go."

"Tech Town, awesome." Emily grinned, smiling at us. "Thanks, guys. I'll definitely put this to good use."

She placed the card and the gift card down on top of the pile of gifts she'd already unwrapped. There was a new tablet from Leo and Katherine, a microscope from Noah, a set of blue Christmas lights from Sera ("I thought we could decorate the room with them, I know blue is your favorite color," my cousin had explained sheepishly to a confused, but smiling, Emily), a new VR visor from Naomi and Ben, and a new 3D holodisk for her holo-computer from Calla.

"Okay, now mine." Charlotte was practically bouncing with excitement. Emily laughed.

"You told me to leave yours for last." She pointed out, even as the dark-skinned girl shoved a gift bag into her arms. Emily shook her head, laughing to herself as she pulled a grey sweatshirt out of the bag. She sighed when she saw the letters M.I.T. written in crimson on the front of the sweatshirt. "Charlotte, we haven't even applied there yet, let alone gotten in."

"We're totally going to get in." Charlotte insisted. "And that will be your first piece of merchandise."

"What happened to Caltech?" Leo called from the kitchen, where he, Calla, and Katherine were all leaning against the counter. Two empty plates sat in front of them, while Calla's piece of cake was left untouched.

"Papa!" Charlotte practically whined. "Why would I go to Caltech if I can go to M.I.T?"

"Yeah, honey, why would she go to Caltech if she can get into M.I.T?" Katherine cooed teasingly. She glanced at Calla and the two mothers laughed.

"I took a couple of online courses at Caltech! It was cool." Leo insisted. Emily and Charlotte just rolled their eyes, amused by his response. "What?"

"Alright guys, I want everyone home straight after school, okay? We're starting training today." Calla announced. "And then we're going out for dinner."

"Who's coming?" Emily inquired, moving off the floor to sit on the couch in order to get a better look at her mother.

"Everyone here, Spin, AJ…anyone else you want to invite?" Calla asked. "It is your birthday dinner."

"Ava – it's my first birthday since she moved here." Emily decided instantly. Noah glanced over at his cousin.

"Mind if I invite Blake?" He asked. She nodded.

"Sure. That's it, Mom. Just Ava and Blake." She replied.

"What about Matt and Darius?" Charlotte asked. To my surprise, Kameron rolled his eyes.

"She doesn't even like them, Char." He pointed out. Emily nodded.

"Yeah, no thanks." She agreed. Calla watched us in amusement.

"Alright, just Ava and Blake then." She decided. She glanced at her piece of cake in distaste. "Anyone want my piece? I don't think I can finish it."

"Is it not good?" Kameron questioned worriedly. Calla shook her head.

"No, it's very good, Kameron. I can definitely see who's the baking expert in the family." She complimented. He beamed with pride. "It's just that it's a little too sweet too early in the morning. Besides, I had something to eat before you guys were up. So, who wants it?"

"I'll take it." Noah and Ben both commented at once, before shooting each other a glare. Leo swiped it before any of them could grab it.

"Then you're going to have to fight me for it." The bionic man declared. Ben stood up from where he was leaning against the wall and crossed his arms. "On second thought, even though I can absolutely take you, I'm going to let you have it because I'm nice."

"Yes, that's why he's letting him have it." I heard Noah mumble to Emily as Leo passed Ben the piece of cake, who immediately split it with Naomi. "I could take him."

"Uncle Leo or Ben?" Emily shot back, smirking. "Because I'm pretty sure you'd lose to either of them."

**Xxx**

"I just don't get why we have to take classes on a language that we all already speak." Sera was saying as we made our way through the busy hallways. "I mean, it doesn't make sense."

"We need it to learn to write properly." I explained. She frowned, even more confused by my explanation.

"But doesn't your planet have voice command for almost everything?" She pointed out. Kameron laughed, clapping Sera on the shoulder.

"Look, you're absolutely right about what you're saying," he told her, leading her into the cafeteria. I looked around, trying to find Charlotte and Emily's table. I spotted them rather quickly, the two girls having lunch with Ava and her cousin Aaron at a corner table. I pointed them out to Kameron and Sera and we started towards them, "but unfortunately, they insist on keeping it part of the curriculum."

"Insist on keeping what part of the curriculum?" Aaron asked as we all sat down at the table. I smiled in greeting at the black-haired boy – we had first period Spanish with him, and he'd been really helpful in getting used to the new school. Glancing across the table, I immediately noticed another gift bag for Emily folded on the table with a package of planet-themed bath bombs on top of it, probably from Ava.

"English. I mean, name one successful person who studied English." Kameron challenged.

"Sally Ride." "Clarence Thomas." "John Mulaney." "William Bernbach." Emily, Ava, Charlotte, and Aaron all replied at once. Kameron huffed in annoyance.

"Well then." He muttered. Sera blinked owlishly.

"I don't know why any of them are." She muttered, half to herself. Charlotte stared at her.

"You don't know who John Mulaney is?" She demanded, sounding personally offended. Sera blinked, then smiled.

"Of course I do. Just wanted to see how you'd react." She teased. Charlotte stared at her for a second more before laughing.

"Alright, that's fair." She chuckled. Sera leaned close to me.

"You'll tell me who he is later, right?" She whispered. I nodded.

"Totally." I promised. She smiled gratefully just as Darius and Matt, the two boys from Charlotte and Emily's grade that they'd become quite close with (despite Emily's reservations), approached the table. Both of them were carrying lunch trays, though Darius was also carrying a plastic garbage bag in his right hand.

"Hey, mind if we sit down?" Matt asked, stopping at the table.

"No, not at all." "It's kinda full…" Charlotte and Kameron both answered at the same time. I glanced at my brother, getting some strange vibes from him. We weren't able to read each other's minds, but we had always been able to tell what each other was feeling (I'd once heard Dad telling Geminus that he thought it might be a less powerful version of Mom and Uncle Ollie's telepathy rather than just a weird twin thing, but we didn't really have a name for it yet) and all I could feel from Kameron was this strange, inexplicable annoyance directed at Matt.

"I'm sure we can make room." Emily sighed, as if it really didn't matter to her. Ava slid over on the bench so that Matt could slide in at the end, while Darius stole an empty chair from another table. He placed it at the end of the table, sitting between Emily and Matt.

"What's in the bag?" I inquired, leaning forward on the table. He glanced at the bag, then at Emily.

"Your dog's name is Helix, right?" He asked her. She nodded, frowning. He handed her the grocery bag. "Uh, happy birthday."

"How'd you know it was my birthday?" She asked, glancing inside the grocery bag. Her eyes widened and she grinned, pulling out a new dog collar. Circular studs on the outside of the collar revealed a DNA helix symbol designed into it. "This is so cool."

"I heard you mention it to Ava in class last week." Darius shrugged. He glanced at the dog collar and grimaced apologetically. "Sorry it's not wrapped or anything."

"No, this is awesome." Emily beamed, examining the dog collar. She looked up at Darius, still smiling. "Thank you."

"That's from both of us." Matt commented. Darius sent him a look, making it clear that that hadn't been part of the plan, but Matt had already turned his attention back to Charlotte.

"Hey, so," Matt looked at Charlotte, grinning, "I was wondering how you felt about motorcycles."

Charlotte raised her chin, mouth opening into an intrigued smile. "I love them." She told him, very serious when she spoke.

"Well, uh, well I'm building one." He admitted. She raised her eyebrows, impressed. "It's not done or anything, but I was wondering if you wanted to come take a look. Maybe help me out with it – you did say you were one of the top students in your mechanics class last year." Emily stared at him, a firm scowl on her face.

"Your parents are letting you build a motorcycle? God, I hate you." She muttered in annoyance. Darius and Matt just looked at her, confused. Charlotte chuckled and waved her hand.

"She's been asking for one for about a year now. Her parents won't even let her buy one." She explained. "And I would love to-"

"We have that thing later." Kameron pointed out. Charlotte sent him a look, then smiled apologetically at Matt.

"Another time. I would love to another time." She finished. "I do have a family thing later."

"I wasn't talking about tonight. I actually have some family stuff of my own to do tonight." He replied. "I just meant whenever you weren't busy."

"Sure, I'd love to. When I get the chance." She agreed. I glanced at my brother, noticing the annoyed look on his face.

"Kam," I murmured, getting his attention. He looked at me, immediately relaxing a little. "Wanna grab for smoothies before we go home?"

"Sure." He agreed reluctantly. I nodded, then looked at Darius.

"So, what about you? Do you have plans for tonight?" I asked, curious. He shook his head.

"Nah, not really. Mom's working, so it's just me, a movie, and some takeout." He shrugged. "Might do some homework."

"You're such a nerd." Matt commented.

"At least I'm going to graduate." Darius shot back. Emily glanced at him.

"Well…we're going out for dinner tonight, you know, because it's my birthday. You can come too if you want." She shrugged. "I'm sure my mom won't mind if we bring another person."

Darius smiled. "Okay, sure. Sounds fun." He agreed. She nodded.

"Cool. I'll text you the restaurant." She glanced at Matt, then sighed. "You want to come too?"

Charlotte looked at Emily, smiling so brightly that you'd have thought that Emily had just given her a million dollars, even though it was obvious that she only invited Matt because of Darius and Charlotte. To both Emily and Kameron's relief, and Charlotte's disappointment, Matt shook his head. "Family thing." He reminded her. "Thanks for the offer, though." He glanced at Darius. "You sure you'll have time though? You still have that homework to do, right?"

Darius rolled his eyes. "I'm sure I'll have time to do both." He sent Matt a look before grabbing his milk carton. "So, what's a guy got to do to get this milk switched out for a coffee?"

**Ben's POV**

When I got to the newsroom on campus, it was abuzz with life, as per usual. I could see a few different reporters standing in front of a holo-computer, discussing different perspectives they could take on one article, while another two people were looking over a spread on a different holo-computer.

"Hey, Grayson, you seen Naomi?" I asked, addressing one of the writers. "She messaged me, said she had something to show me?"

He frowned. "Try the back room. She's been holed up in there for an hour."

"Thanks, man." I replied before heading towards the back room. The door was closed, so I knocked on it before poking my head in. Naomi was standing in front of a holo-screen, frowning deeply as she looked at four photos that were too blurry to see properly from this side of the screen. "Hey, I brought lunch. Everything alright?"

"Good, you're here. Close the door behind you." Naomi waved me in. I did as she asked and placed our lunch – two coffees and a couple of club sandwiches in a paper bag – on the table. "Come here."

"What's going on?" I asked her, walking around the holo-computer. The pictures she was looking at were off some building, with a few people walking out of them.

"You know Lucas, the other photographer for the paper? Well, he managed to take these photos of the Blizzard Corporation from the day the cars went haywire." She explained, gesturing at the photos on the screen. "He already sent them to the police, but I got him to send me copies as well since he owed me a favor. Recognize anyone?"

I looked back at the photos, examining the people with more attention. The first two didn't look familiar in the slightest – one was a tall guy with black hair, wearing a black suit with a weird, redish-orange symbol on his chest and a black vizor over his face, while the other was a black-haired woman wearing a sleeveless-black top with dark pink sides, black gloves, and a black vizor over her face – but the third person, I knew instantly. "Saturn." I growled angrily.

Naomi nodded. "I know that the internal video surveillance of Blizzard Corp was knocked out, but I heard from Agent Swanson that they still managed to recover audio surveillance." She commented. "Did you get to hear any of it? Did you know Saturn was there?"

"No, I…" I frowned, thinking back to the audio recording. "Oh."

"Oh, what?" Naomi asked, confused. I looked over the other two thoughtfully. "Ben?"

"Miles did show Calla, Leo, and I the audio recording, but there was no mention of Saturn." I should have recognized his voice though; the audio recording we heard yesterday morning wasn't the best quality, but this guy had been my nemesis for years now. I should have realized he'd be involved. "There was a mention of two other names, but I didn't realize that they were actual names until I made the connection with Saturn."

"What are you talking about?" Naomi frowned. I pointed at the two masked strangers with Saturn.

"We heard the names Venus," I said, pointing at the woman, then at the other guy, "and Jupiter. We didn't realize what they were talking about – thought maybe it was a tech thing that we weren't family with, but they've got to be names, or at least codenames. I mean, they're all names of Roman gods."

"Or planets." Naomi gave me a look for not going straight to the more obvious connection. "Nerd."

"I will give your lunch to Grayson." I half-threatened. She raised her hands in surrender, moving to sit at the table.

"I'll be good." She promised, already pulling her sandwich out of the bag before I could make good on my threat. I stepped to the side, getting a better look at the criminals. "So, do you know what that symbol on Mr. Jupiter's chest is?" I shook my head, too deep in thought to care much for it. Because their names weren't the only thing that had been said in the audio recording. Something Naomi didn't know yet. "Me either. I'm going to show it to Calla later, see if she recognizes it, or at least to see if she can run it through the supervillain database. Maybe it's someone we know."

"Naomi." I said softly. She looked at me.

"What's wrong?" She asked, tone turning more serious as she realized how quiet I'd been.

"The audio recording…Venus said something other than just Jupiter's name." I told her, looking at her through the holo-screen. "She said that they needed to get back to the others."

"Others." Naomi repeated slowly. Her face fell. "That means there's more of them." I nodded solemnly. "How many?"

"I do not know." I muttered, staring back at the picture of Saturn. "I do not know."

**Calla's POV**

I sighed, leaning my neck against my hand as I stared at my screen, typing with one hand. I had a million things to get done, and I'd barely scratched the surface this morning. I had about six different prototypes that needed my approval, which would require me going over every aspect of the designs before I could do that. There was this weird glitch going on with the new Davenwatch update that resulted in calls being dropped despite having a good signal – I wanted to go over that one personally, given everything that happened at Blizzard Corp a couple of weeks ago. The board was on my ass about that little fiasco – some of the members thought that now would be the perfect time to release Davenport Industries' own self-driving car system, given that the Blizzard Corporation was losing sales, and only about a third of the board was agreeing with me about them being a dumb idea. If I was going to convince them to go a different way, I would have to come up with a new, brilliant idea and fast. Skylar Lewis was coming in around 2 to pitch an idea though, and since her past few ideas had been rather good, I was hoping that it would help me out with the board.

Still, even if the board agreed to do Lewis' idea, I still needed to go over the new weapons that we had in development for the government, including a new exoskeleton idea that Leo was working on. I'd been hoping to get more done on the hoverboard project by now as well, but between everything else on my plate, the new security features that were slowing down production, and my new side project, I barely had time to think about it. Which was exactly why, despite it being my lunch hour, I was still pouring over designs and pages upon pages of code.

" _Hey Calla, sorry to interrupt."_  My secretary's voice came out of the intercom. I sighed.

"Is it important, Spencer?" I questioned tiredly. He hesitated before responding.

" _Well, Mr. Dooley is here to see you."_  He replied.  _"Your call on whether that's important or not."_

I chuckled, vaguely hearing an indignant shout on the other side of the call. "Meh, send him in anyway."

" _Of course."_  Spencer replied. A moment later and Leo walked into my office.

"I don't like him." He told me. I snorted.

"Are you kidding? I love Spencer." I chuckled as he grabbed the coffee pot from its place on top of one of my counters and started pouring himself a mug. "I know he's only a temp, but I'm thinking of offering him a full-time job here once his term is over."

Leo rolled his eyes at that as he sat down on the couch near my desk. I glanced at him before looking back at my work. "Don't get comfortable." I warned him. "I'm busy."

He frowned. "Sorry, I figured you'd be on your lunch break." He apologized, about to get up. I shook my head.

"Working through it. Too much to do." I paused briefly to rub at my forehead as the ache that had been assaulting me for the past hour made itself known again.

"You eat yet? I can grab us a something from the cafeteria." He offered. I shook my head again.

"Not hungry." I muttered. He frowned, but I stopped him before he could reply. "I had a granola bar an hour ago, alright? Chill."

"Okay, sorry." He muttered. I stopped, realizing I'd snapped at him.

"I'm sorry." I apologized sincerely. "People are annoying, I've got a headache, my stomach feels weird, and I feel like I didn't sleep at all last night. And it's all making me cranky. I shouldn't take it out on you though. I'm sorry."

Leo shrugged and got off the couch, only to move to sit on the edge of my desk. I clasped my hands together, resting my chin on them as I looked up at him. "You coming down with something?" He asked, concerned. I shook my head tiredly.

"Just stressed." I assured him. He nodded thoughtfully, but that didn't erase the frown on his face. "I'm fine, Dooley. You don't have to worry about me."

"I kinda do. You're my best friend." He replied with a shrug. I frowned at him, something dawning on me.

"Chase asked you to check in on me, didn't he?" I guessed. He chuckled.

"More like he promised to back me up the next time I have an idea you don't like so long as I made sure you didn't run yourself into the ground or anything." He replied. I opened my mouth, trying not to smile as I shook my head.

"Of course he did." It was just like him. It was super sweet, I supposed, though we would definitely have words about him ganging up against me with Leo for this. Leo chuckled.

"How long until their first check-in?" He asked. I sighed, glancing at the highlighted mark on my holo-computer's calendar.

"October 31st." Exactly 44 days until I could see Chase again, and make sure the others were okay. By all means they should be – they won't have even reached Caldera yet, and I was more than confident in the ship they'd taken to go on the trip. After all, Davenport, Douglas, Leo, and I had all gone over the designs ourselves before letting them go. The biggest threat to any of them was boredom. After all, they were trapped in confined quarters for a long period of time with only each other to keep each other company. By now, I suspected that Kaz and Dani had done something to tick off the others, probably Chase and Skylar, and Oliver and Bree were trying to calm everyone down with Jaden watching from a safe distance. They shouldn't be in any danger yet, or at all, but I couldn't help but worry anyway. "I should be up there with them."

"We needed you here." Leo reminded me gently. I nodded.

"I know. Doesn't mean it's fair." I sighed, shaking my head. "I miss them."

"I can't believe they've only been gone for three weeks." Leo commented. He glanced at me. "How're the kids doing?"

"Oh my God." This was going to make my headache even worse. "I mean, they're okay and stuff, but oh my God, what was I thinking? Four kids? For eight months?"

Leo chuckled at that. "I have to admit, not your sanest decision."

"Don't get me wrong, I care about those kids, I really do. And I'm more than happy to help, especially since I'm the only one who stayed behind, but still. Three weeks and already Noah has bionics, they've somehow convinced me to train them as superheroes, Seraphina barely understands Earth education, Emily's got college applications due in less than a month, and Kameron keeps letting John roam free in the penthouse even though I've explicitly told him not to." I shook my head, leaning back in my chair. "How in the world did your parents do it?"

Leo thought about that for a moment. "Well, you can always shove three of them in the basement and brag about your money to the fourth to get them to kiss your ass for an allowance." He pointed out. I swatted his arm, even as I chuckled.

" _Hey Calla, sorry to interrupt again, but Mr. Henigs-Krane is here to see you regarding the Davenwatch update."_  Spencer interrupted again. I sighed.

"Tell AJ I'll see him in a minute, Spencer." I replied.

" _Of course."_  Spencer replied. I sighed and looked at Leo.

"You know what I need?" I asked.

"A personal assistant?" He guessed. I nodded, pointing at him.

"You read my mind, Dooley." I commented as he headed for the door. "You read my mind."

**Kira's POV**

"Here you go." I handed Kameron his smoothie from the stand – for all of Millennium Academy's faults, at least it was only about a minute away from both a smoothie place and a soft pretzel stand. Whoever the owners were, they were genius to set up shop here; they had to be making a ton of money off all the students coming here at lunch and after their classes.

"So?" He questioned, shoving one hand in his pocket as we started on the way back to the penthouse. I raised an eyebrow, not answering him. "What is it, Kira?"

"What's going on between you and Matt?" I inquired. He shrugged.

"Nothing." He told me, kicking at a rock on the ground.

"Really?" I hummed thoughtfully, not buying it. He rolled his forest green eyes, annoyed.

"Just because I'm not his new best friend doesn't mean I have a problem with him." He pointed out. I shrugged.

"I know, but it's like you hate the guy or something." I commented.

"I don't." He assured me. I nodded.

"Okay, then what gives? You're treating him as coldly as Emily is." I stated. He looked like he was about to protest, so I shook my head. "No, you are. I've seen it, and I'm sure he's noticed. So seriously, what's up? It's not like you have to deal with him being in half your classes like Em does."

"It's…shut up." He grumbled in frustrated. I shoved him gently.

"You shut up." I replied. He gave me a look and I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Look, he's just…annoying, alright? Acting all cool, with his motorcycle and leather jackets and stuff." He commented with a shrug. "He feels fake. I don't like fake people."

Alright, that did seem like a valid argument. "But why do you care?" I pressed. "It's not like he's bragging about his motorcycle to you. He just asked…" And it hit me like a ton of bricks. "Oh."

"Oh, what?" Kameron questioned. I smiled, pressing my lips together tightly.

"Just oh." I replied, skipping ahead of him with a smirk on my face. That explained everything.

"Kira!" Kameron jogged to catch up with me. "Oh, what?"

"Oh, Charlotte." I said. He paused. "You like her. Which is why you don't like other guys, namely Matt, flirting with her."

"No, that's not it. I just don't like fake people." He insisted again. "He gives off weird vibes."

"Oh, sure. That's totally it." I agreed sarcastically as we turned down onto the correct street.

"I don't like her." Kameron argued with me. "Not like that, at least."

"Why not?" I stopped and looked at him. "She's pretty, she's funny, she's wicked smart, and she's a badass…actually," I paused, smirking a little, "if you don't ask her out, I might."

"That's not funny." He pushed past me, heading for Davenport Tower. I gaped at him for a moment before grinning.

"Oh my God, you  _do_  have a thing for her." I laughed. Kameron stopped and grabbed my wrist, preventing me from entering the building.

"I don't have a thing for her. She's just a friend. Don't make this a thing." He told me. He frowned. "Besides, even if I did have a thing for her, which I absolutely do not, it's pretty clear that she has a type. And I'm not it."

"I…" He did have a point. Charlotte did seem to have a bad-boy fascination going on, and Kameron and Matt were very different people. "What are you going to do?"

"Well, I don't like her like that, so nothing. I'm going to be her friend, because that's all we are." He insisted. I nodded. "Now, will you please drop it?"

"Drop what?" Emily asked as she and Charlotte walked over to us. Kameron shot me a warning look, but I just smiled warmly at the two girls.

"Well, I was just telling Kam that he should get Naomi to help him out with his English homework." I lied. "It's not his best subject."

"It's fine. I'll manage." Kameron insisted, acting annoyed. Charlotte frowned.

"What is your best subject?" She inquired, curious. Kameron shrugged.

"Biology, math." He replied. Emily paused and looked at him closely.

"Math and biology?" She repeated. He nodded slowly. "Are you sure you're a Broadman?"

"Nope. I'm half convinced Mom and Dad made up this twin thing to cover up the fact that he's adopted." I teased. Kameron rolled his eyes, pushing me into the lobby of Davenport Tower.

**Ben's POV**

"Whoa, hey." I stopped immediately upon entering my apartment, finding Noah and Blake on my living room couch. I turned around quickly, trying to avoid seeing anything I shouldn't. "Dude!"

"Chill, we're not doing anything." Noah chuckled. I cautiously turned back around, now noticing that they were both fully clothed.

"You better not be." I muttered before nodding in greeting at the blonde-haired girl. "Hi, Blake."

"Hi Ben. I was just leaving, anyway." She stood up. Noah grabbed at her hand.

"You sure?" He questioned. She smiled and leaned down to kiss him.

"I'll see you at dinner. Talk to your aunt." She told him, kissing him a second time before heading for the door. "Bye Ben. Have fun at the gym."

"Bye." I nodded to her. As soon as the door closed, Noah melted back into the couch. "The gym?"

"Told her you made me join your gym and start a workout thing." He explained. I stopped and gave him a look before grabbing a Coke out of the fridge. "Sorry, couldn't think of anything better to explain the training."

"That's fair." I shrugged.

"And don't worry, we weren't going to do anything on your couch." He added. I nodded.

"Good. I host company on that thing." He snorted in amusement at my response. "Calla wants her at her place for training in twenty minutes."

"Yeah, I know. I just stopped by to grab something to change into." He explained, holding up a gym bag, presumably with clothes in it. I nodded, then glanced at the door.

"So, what did she want you to talk to Calla about?" I asked. He sighed, leaning his head back against the couch.

"Take a guess." He muttered. I chuckled.

"She's right." I commented. He shook his head. "Look, let's face it; out of all your relatives, she's the second least likely to kill you for this. You might stand a chance with her."

"I know you meant that to be reassuring," Noah looked over at me, "but it wasn't."

"How long do you think you can keep this from her? You got lucky with your mom and dad going into space, but Calla will find out, one way or another. She's already not happy with you about the bionics thing."

"I know, okay?" Noah got up and walked over to the island before slumping down onto one of the stools. "And I'll come clean, eventually."

"Eventually." I repeated. He nodded.

"I just need a plan, alright?" He reasoned. I nodded – well, no shit kid. "I mean, I'm pretty sure that 'Hey Aunt Calla, I dropped out of college' will sound a lot better with 'but I know what I'm going to next' attached to it. Right?"

"Just leave out the part where I'm letting you crash on my couch." I suggested, only half joking. He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Look, you don't need to be told that you messed up, Noah. But you are right that you need a plan. If you come to Calla with a solution rather than just a problem, I'm sure she'll go easier on you."

"She's still going to kill me." He commented. I nodded.

"Oh, one hundred percent." I agreed.


	5. Sick Day

**Noah's POV**

"Sorry, sorry." I muttered, jogging into mission command, dressed in sweatpants and tank tops, ready to train. Calla sighed irritably and glanced at her Daven-watch.

"I said quarter after, Noah." She reminded me sternly, clearly displeased.

"Blake, I couldn't think of an excuse." I explained in a hurry, pulling off my hoodie before she could accuse me of not being dressed properly either. "Sorry."

"Be on time next time." She told me. I nodded, tossing my stuff into the corner before joining the others. "That goes for everyone. If there's a mission, I need you ready to go."

"What if we're in school?" Charlotte inquired.

"Then Calla and I will call and get you all excused. We'll figure out something to tell your teachers." Leo assured her. Calla glanced at Naomi and I.

"You two are on your own for that though." She warned us. "Talk to Ben, see what he tells his teachers to get out class."

"I'm sure it won't be a problem." I replied, feeling my stomach twist a little. Ever since Blake had started pushing me to tell Calla, I felt bad for lying to her. I just needed to figure everything out before I talked to her though. Calla gave me a look and I decided to do the smart thing and shut up. As she turned around to talk to Leo about what exactly we were going to be doing this morning, I turned to the others, nervous. "So, has she been like this all day, or is it just because of me?"

"She's just in a bad mood. You just chose the wrong day to sleep in with your girlfriend." Naomi assured me, shaking her head.

"We weren't..." I sighed. It wasn't worth the argument. "What's up with her? Wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something?"

"Well, it might have something to do about what was in her bed when she woke up..." Emily chuckled. Kameron groaned.

"I didn't mean to leave Josh's cage open, okay? It's not my fault he thinks Calla's bed is comfy." He grumbled.

"It absolutely is." Calla piped up. We all looked over at her, noticing the unimpressed look on her face. "Now, if you're all done talking about how cranky I am, can we start training?"

We all turned to face her and Leo, muttering apologies under our breath. "Great." Calla clapped her hands sarcastically. "Teams of two, now."

We spent the next two hours practicing combat moves, mostly defensive, and a few tricks that could get us out of tight spots. By the looks of things, Calla wanted to have us working on things that would work for all of us, regardless of our powers, before focusing later on our abilities. It wasn't all that surprising - she hadn't always had her powers and teaching us to do things without them probably came more naturally. Besides, it wouldn't make much sense to train us on super speed when I was the only one with speed abilities or teach us about flying when the twins were the only ones who could.

"Alright, that's enough." Calla eventually called from where she was sitting at the cyber computer, watching all of us. She nodded. "Nice work guys. You're seeming to get the hang of it."

"Are we done for the day?" Emily inquired, glancing at her. Calla shook her head, and the younger genius frowned.

"Not yet, I want to get a couple more hours done. Don't worry, I know you have a homework thing with Darius later." Calla assured her, rubbing her neck tiredly.

"But," Leo added, "you've all earned a lunch break. Go on."

"Sweet." Kira grinned, already heading for the hyperlift. The rest of us chuckled as she shot straight up to the main floor, not bothering to see if any of us were following.

"Hey, is there any more Italian food from last night?" Kameron asked as the rest of us headed for the elevator.

"Whoa." I turned to see Calla standing by the cyber computer, one hand pressed against the cyber computer, the other pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Mom?" Emily asked softly, looking past me at Calla. Calla waved her off, keeping one hand on the cyber table.

"I'm fine." She assured her before rubbing at her eyes again. She chuckled lightly. "Just stood up too fast."

"Are you sure?" Charlotte asked, looking equally concerned. Calla nodded. Leo glanced between her and the rest of us.

"Why don't you guys go ahead?" He suggested, keeping his tone light. "We'll be up in a minute."

"Are you-" Kameron started. Calla raised her head and gave us all a smile.

"Guys, I'm fine. Go." She told us, smiling reassuringly.

"Okay…" Sera agreed hesitantly, heading back towards the hyperlift. I gave Emily a gentle push to get her moving, and the rest of us, sans Leo, Calla, Naomi, and Ben, went up to the main floor.

"Is Calla okay?" Sera asked as soon as we were up there. Kira glanced back at us in confusion.

"What's going on?" She asked as she put the finishing touches on her sandwich.

"She's fine…I think." Emily replied, biting her lip. Charlotte patted her shoulder gently.

"She probably forgot to eat breakfast or something." She told her. She glanced at the rest of us. "It wouldn't be the first time, would it?"

**Naomi's POV**

"I didn't forget breakfast, Leo!" Calla snapped in exasperation.

"Coffee doesn't count, Calla." Ben commented offhandedly. Calla turned to look at him, head tilted in annoyance. "Just saying."

"I had toast. Happy?" She snapped, turning to glare back at Leo. I exchanged looks with Leo and Ben. "Guys, it was a dizzy spell, I'm fine. You're acting like I'm dying or something."

"You have been off for a few weeks now." I began. She turned to look at me.

"Oh my God, I'm not dying." Her tone was up a pitch as he shook her head at us.

"No, but I'm pretty sure you're burning yourself out, Calla." Leo said gently. She rolled her eyes. "I'm serious."

"I'm fine." Calla repeated. He shook her head. "Leo, I-"

"You've been burning the candle at both ends since Chase left. You need a break." He interrupted her. She scowled at him irritably. "Don't say you're fine. You need a break."

"Say that's true, which it isn't," Calla stressed, "when am I supposed to take it? You know how bad things are at the company, Dooley, and on top of the kids and whatever is going on with the city? Even if I wanted a break, I don't have time for one.

"Well, you're taking a break." Leo decided. Calla stared at him for a moment.

"Did you listen to anything I just said?" She questioned incredulously.

"Not at all." Leo replied with a smirk. She rolled her eyes before rubbing at them with her thumb and index finger.

"Dooley," She began, but he shook his head.

"Parker." He said threateningly. I smirked a little - whenever Leo called Calla by her maiden name, he was being serious, and we all knew it would work to get her to listen to him, "You're taking a break. A sick day. It's not the end of the world."

"Please don't say that. With our track record, it just might be." She pointed out. He shook his head. "Alright, one day. One day off. That's it."

"Go to bed. Take a nap." He suggested. She raised an eyebrow at that.

"I'm not five." She pointed out. He nodded.

"I know, which means you should actually appreciate the nap rather than just whining about it." He replied. She opened her mouth and stared at him for a moment, offended.

"Wow, you're mean today." She realized.

"Worried, not mean." He corrected. She sighed.

"Fine. I will take a sick day." She reluctantly agreed. As much as she had fought against us on it, I could already see some of the tension bleeding out of her shoulders. Ben cleared his throat.

"Should I tell the others that we're done training for the day?" He suggested. "I can take a few of them out for a run or something."

"Nah, I've got an idea." Leo assured him. Calla raised her eyebrows at that. "Don't worry about it, Calla."

"Fine." She got up, moving slowly this time to avoid another accidental dizzy spell. "Emily's gotta go meet her friend Darius at five. It's important to her." She told him.

"Oh, don't worry. We'll be done long before then." He promised her, smiling as he thought over his plan. Ben and I exchanged looks as Calla headed for the hyperlift. This should be interesting.

**Noah's POV**

"She's fine, Emmy." Leo assured Emily for the second time as we all gathered around mission command. Leo had given us an extra hour off as he set up a new training exercise, while my aunt had gone upstairs to rest a little bit. She too had reassured all of us that she was okay, and that Leo was 'pulling a Dooley' and overreacting (to which Charlotte had overreacted to), but had agreed to take the rest of the day off. "Your mom just has a lot on her plate and needs a few hours to breathe and stuff before diving back in."

"You're sure?" Emily asked, biting her lip. He nodded.

"I'm positive. You guys are all just super stressful." He joked. She rolled her eyes, smiling a little. He gave her another reassuring smile, then turned to us.

"So, I thought we'd play a little game. Big D and Chase always thought that training had to be serious, but I never really understood why we couldn't have a little fun with it." He declared. We all exchanged looks, curious as to what he was up to. "Alright, I assume most of you know what capture the flag is?"

"I don't." Sera was the only one to speak up, her voice a little hesitant once she realized that the rest of us did.

"It's an Earth game, where two teams try to capture the other team's flag." I explained. She nodded, smiling at me gratefully. Leo leaned against the cyber computer.

"Don't worry too much about it, Seraphina. I'm messing with the rules anyway." He told her before looking at all of us. "Alright, so there are three flags hidden in the tunnels underneath Centium City. You guys are going to split into four teams of two, then track down one of the flags, which will be guarded by someone. You get the flag and you win. But don't expect it to be easy - there's going to be obstacles and...surprises waiting for you in there. And none of us are going to go easy on you guys in there either."

"But you said there are only three flags? Why four teams?" Kira asked as she subtly moved to stand next to her brother. Glancing around, I saw that the others had already moved next to their chosen team members - Naomi and Ben, always at each other's side, the twins standing close together, with Emily and Charlotte at the back. That left Sera and I, not that I was complaining - after our little training exercise with Naomi a couple of weeks ago, we'd been working closely together.

"Well, it wouldn't be much of a game if there weren't winners and losers, would it?" Leo joked. "The team that fails to bring back a flag is going to be doing dishes for the next week. At the penthouse and my house."

"That's not fair!" Kameron protested.

"Well, then, don't lose." Leo suggested. Kameron stopped, not having an argument against that. "Oh, and I'm picking teams, so you can stop thinking you're all going to be with your best friend on the team."

"What?" "Papa!" "Why?" Protests came from most of the group. Leo sighed.

"Look, clearly you guys have these mini teams that work for you. That's not a bad thing; you can be part of a larger team while still being a badass duo with just one other team member - just ask Kaz and Oliver, or Bree and Skylar. But it's a good idea to practice working with the team members you're less familiar with, alright?" He looked over us for a moment, a look of pondering on his face. "Alright, Char, sweetie, you're with Ben. Kam, you're with Naomi. Kira with Noah, and Sera and Emily."

We all looked around at each other, some of us clearly happier with the teams than others.

"When do we start?" Naomi inquired. Leo smirked and held up his Davenwatch. I noticed immediately that it was a different model than ours - this one was a black and blue model, as opposed to the silver and gold ones.

"Right now." He declared, hitting a button. He disappeared as he hit it.

"How?" Kira questioned, confused.

"Some of the advanced Davenwatches have geoleap functions." Charlotte explained. She looked around at us. "May the best hero win. C'mon Ben!"

Without waiting for his response, she raced into the tunnels. Muttering a curse under his breath, the older boy jogged after her, calling her name. Emily rolled her eyes.

"C'mon, let's get this over with." She said to Seraphina, walking into the tunnels with much less enthusiasm than Charlotte, the alien girl following her silently. I turned and looked at Kira as Naomi and Kameron started into the tunnels.

"After you." I offered, gesturing to the tunnels. She smiled in response, leading me into the tunnels.

**Emily's POV**

"Another dead end." I declared, my tone falsely excited. I shot Seraphina a look. "That's the third one in an hour. Are you sure you know where we're going?"

"I never said I did." Sera replied, glancing at me. "Don't you know these tunnels yet? You've lived here longer."

"Doesn't mean I'm a spelunking expert." I muttered. She sighed.

"I think we're lost." She told me. "We should call Leo and get him to help us back to mission command."

"Absolutely not." I retorted. She raised her hands questioningly.

"Why not? Do you know how to get back? Because I don't." She argued.

"No, but I'm still not going to call Leo. First, that would probably make us forfeit the competition, and second, I'm not going to give up that easily."

"You're only going to get us more lost." Sera sighed. I stopped and turned to look at her fully.

"I don't see you helping." I pointed out. She stared at me.

"I tried to help, you said I was wrong." She reminded me. I bit my lip, remembering that.

"Yeah, well, you were. The first tunnel you tried to bring us down only goes to the sewage system, and the second would just bring us down to this old subway station that my parents made off limits ages ago. I may not know these tunnels that well, but at least I know that."

"You act like I should." Sera commented. I shrugged.

"Well, you have been here for nearly a month." I pointed out. She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, a month." She agreed, starting to get ticked off. "I've been a little busy, you know, getting used to a new school, new city, and, uh, a new planet. Kinda had my plate full."

"Hey, it's not like I didn't have to adjust to the new situation too." I argued.

"Yeah, but at least I've been trying to make it work." She grumbled. I frowned.

"What do you mean by that?" I questioned, looking at her. She gave me a look and I sighed irritably. I opened my mouth to argue with her when a odd, loud hissing sound came from the tunnel to our right. We both paused and looked down the tunnel.

"Is that...?" Sera asked hesitantly as she made out the form of what had hissed at us.

"It is." I gulped nervously, backing up. I glanced at her. "I think we should run."

"Something we finally agree on." She replied before turning on her heel and bolting down the tunnel opposite. I hesitated for a very brief second – we had no idea if that tunnel would bring us deeper into the labyrinth under the city or not. But there were two very large crocodiles – yes, I said crocodiles – right behind me was more than enough to make me risk it. I tore off after Sera, the dangerous creatures close behind.

**Noah's POV**

I sped at the nearby attack orb, smashing into it so fast that it broke apart upon contact. Leo hadn't set these orbs to their maximum strength, so they were fairly easy to take down. They were more of an annoyance than anything.

"I got three!" Kira declared, dropping her hand as the last blast of fire she'd released melted an attack orb. "How many did you get?"

"Two." I replied, shaking my head when I saw the triumphant smirk form on her face.

"You're falling behind." She teased, crossing her arms. I rolled my eyes, smiling.

"Let's go. I think we're going the right way." I told her, heading further down the tunnel. The ground below us was downtrodden, clearly used a fair bit, and I figured that Leo and whoever was helping him - Katherine was probably one of them, if I had to guess, but I wasn't sure who else would be watching a flag given that Calla was taking the day off. I glanced at my phone to check the time, and noticed that there were a couple of missed messages.

"Blake? That's your girlfriend right? The one we met at Emily's birthday dinner?" Kira inquired. I nodded.

"Yeah. I'll call her later, once we're done here." Blake preferred calling over texting, but I wasn't going to get any kind of decent signal down here.

"She seems nice." Kira observed. I nodded.

"But...?" I could hear it in her tone. She shrugged. "Spit it out, Kira. Charlotte and Emily don't hold back; neither should you."

"I don't know, she just doesn't seem like your type is all. Sorry." She said apologetically. I shrugged. "You're not mad."

"You're entitled to your opinion, even if I don't agree with it." Being diplomatic was the only way to manage both of my cousins.

"Oh, okay. I wasn't lying when I said she was nice. I just figured that you'd be dating someone in the life."

"In the life?" I repeated.

"You know, the hero life. Like someone from the Bionic Academy, or the League or something." She shrugged. "I don't know, maybe that's me."

"Do League members have to date members of the League?" I knew that most of them were all married or dating someone in the superhero community. "Have you dated any one in the League?"

"No to both of those, though I came close once. It's complicated." She waved her hand as if it didn't matter. I frowned.

"Complicated? You're fifteen." I pointed out incredulously.

"And fifteen-year-olds sometimes have complicated love lives." She insisted, her tone making it clear that topic was done with. "But no, they don't have to date in the League. I just figured, considering how important your abilities are, you'd end up with someone with powers too. Sorry if that's weird or anything. I'm sure Blake will think your powers are totally cool when she finds out...if she doesn't know already?"

"She doesn't yet, but I'm sure she will." I reasoned. She nodded.

"Cool." She hummed. She paused in the tunnel suddenly, a frown on her face. "Do you see that too?"

"See...oh." I followed her gaze until I was saw what she was talking about. It was hardly noticeable, but it was there - a bit of light emanating from a nearby tunnel.

**Naomi's POV**

"We are definitely lost." I sighed, stopping in front of a rock wall where I'd truly believed would be another tunnel.

"Yeah." Kameron agreed, looking around. He glanced down the tunnel we'd just come from. "Think we should double all the way back to that first intersection, or do you think we'll be fine if we just go back to the second before last?"

"I don't know. These tunnels confuse me." I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. He cocked his head to the side, smiling a little to show that he agreed with me. I sighed, thinking. "Alright, let's go back to the beginning. If we were even close to being on the right path, we'd be seeing some of Leo's 'surprises' by now."

"What do you think they are?" Kameron wondered.

"Knowing Leo, it could be anything. He likes to catch people off guard." I commented. "That sound good to you, though?"

"Yeah. You make a good point about not seeing any of the obstacles yet." He agreed, turning to start back down the path. "So, how come you don't know these tunnels, anyway? Haven't you lived here, like, for a year now?"

"Two, actually. Doesn't make these tunnels any more confusing. It's not like I use them regularly, anyway." I replied with a shrug.

"You should." He commented. "I know they're technically supposed to be an Elite Force / S.H.I.R.T. secret, but they're helpful. You should make a map of this place or something."

I looked at him, surprised. "That's a good idea. Why didn't I think of that?" I wondered. He grinned widely in response. "I should map this place out. I could grab Em, make a weekend out of it."

"Oh thank God," he breathed in relief, "for a second I thought you were going to get me to help you." We both laughed at the relief in his voice. "I'm directionally challenged."

"So I hear." Kira had been rather excited to tell us about the time he'd walked home from school on his own for the first time and ended up on the other side of the city. "It's okay. Ben is hopeless without a GPS."

"Really?" He hummed thoughtfully.

"It's pathetic, actually." I chuckled, smirking. I glanced at him. "You'll get the hang of it."

"Maybe. I'm only here for seven more months." He replied. Then, in a much lower tone, he added, "hopefully."

I stopped at the beginning of another intersection and turned to look at him. "Hey." I said, then waited for him to look at me. "They'll be okay, alright? Your parents will be back home in seven months, no doubt about it."

"If everything goes according to plans." Kameron added. I nodded. "My parents aren't exactly the best at following plans."

"That may be true, but Chase is so anal about everything going to according to his plan that it'll all even out." I offered. He smiled a little. "They'll really be okay, I promise. Okay?"

"Okay." Kameron nodded. I smiled back.

"Now I say we track down Leo or whoever he has watching those flags and grab one quick so we can get out of here. Sound good?" I asked. He grinned.

"Bet I'll beat you to it." He replied, jogging past me. I chuckled, shaking my head before following after him.

**Emily's POV**

"Crocodiles in the sewers? Is this your uncle's idea of a joke?" Sera demanded, keeping pace with me as we ran from the crocs. The two monstrous animals were right on our heels. "And where the hell did he even get two crocodiles?"

"I don't know, but they're not real!" I cried, leaping forward a bit as they nipped at the back of my feet. Sera spared me a glance before glancing back over her shoulder.

"They look pretty real to me!" She called. She raised one hand, sending a wave of ice backwards at the crocs. It didn't do much other than slow them down, but at least it was something.

"They're too fast. Real crocodiles could never keep up with us." I called back. I glared at the crocodiles, but nothing happened.

"If they're fake, make them stop. Use your powers!" Sera ordered. I shook my head, breathing heavily.

"I can't!" I muttered, just loud enough for her to hear. She shot me a confused glance, but I didn't have the time, or energy, to explain.

"That's it!" Suddenly, Sera barrelled into me, pushing the both of us into a side tunnel. Without explaining herself, she raised her hands and created a barrier of ice between us and the crocodiles. It wasn't large - just four feet high and about 6 inches in width - so it wouldn't keep us safe forever, but it did buy us sometime to catch our breath and figure out a plan.

"Why can't you stop them?" Her tone wasn't accusatory like I would have expected it to be. I shook my head helplessly. "If they're not real crocodiles like you said they are, they're either not of this world, or they're tech. And I highly doubt your uncle purchased a set of magno lacenta from Gebelia just for this."

"Magno lacenta from Gebelia?" I repeated. She nodded. "Okay, I don't know what that means, but they're certainly not ordinary tech either." I sighed. "S.H.I.R.T. and Coalition will sometimes give my parents some alien tech to work with in exchange for free upgrades to their tech, so long as my mom doesn't sell any of it. I think it's some of that."

"Your powers only work on human tech?" Sera frowned.

"My powers only work on tech-tech. As in mechanical, electrical...you know, real tech. But some species have organic tech stuff, and I can't control those very well."

"Okay, so it's organic tech. Good to know." Sera muttered. She glanced back at her ice barrier, where the crocodiles were unsuccessfully trying to climb over. "Do you think they'll go away on their own?"

"Maybe? I have no idea how Leo programmed them." I shook my head again. I hated this feeling of helplessness. I couldn't do anything. "How long will your barrier hold?"

"Maybe an hour, if we're lucky." She replied. She glanced at me. "Want to wait it out, see if they go away, then figure something out if they don't?"

"It's not like we can do anything else." I replied, shrugging before leaning against the rock wall.

**Noah's POV**

"I see it." I confirmed to Kira, nodding towards the light coming from the other tunnel.

"I think we found a flag." She told me in a sing-song voice. I smirked.

"Wanna see if I can grab the flag before Leo even realizes we're here?" I suggested. She smiled, then looked at the tunnel without moving her head. I smirked and sped down the tunnel. Kira was right about the flag - I could see it sitting on the ground at the corner of the dead-end tunnel. All I had to do was swipe it off the ground and get back to Kira - at this speed, it would only take half a second.

Suddenly, before I could even touch the flag, something slammed into me. It sent me flying across the floor, until I hit the rock wall. I looked up confused, to see a tall, lanky brown haired man in his early thirties standing over me, a triumphant smirk on his face.

"Oh, c'mon Noah, you didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" He teased, crossing his arms and looking down at me. I groaned, dropping my head back onto the ground.

"Seriously? Leo got you to help?" I complained. He chuckled.

"The chance to show you guys how a real bionic battle goes? Like I was going to pass that up." He chuckled. He glanced over his shoulder. "Hi Kira."

"Hi Spin." Kira sighed, stepping into the tunnel. Spin smiled and looked between the two of us.

"So, are we going to do this, or what?" He questioned. I didn't answer, instead immediately speeding at him. Kira moved at the same, rushing towards Spin with a fire ball forming in her hand.

Spin twisted into a miniature tornado, the force of which pushed both Kira and I back into opposite rock walls, extinguishing Kira's fire before it could do any damage.

"C'mon guys, you're going to face a lot tougher than me out there." Spin taunted. I grit my teeth together, annoyed. I knew he was doing it on purpose, but that didn't mean I liked it.

I glanced at Kira, gestured with one hand for her to stay put, then sped at Spin again. This time, I tried to stop at the last minute and dart to the right, but he seemed to be expecting it.

I managed to keep my footing this time, even though his twister managed to knock me back a few steps. "Don't be predictable." Spin cautioned. "Dodging to the side is smart, but obvious. Try something new."

"You keep doing the same thing!" I pointed out. He nodded.

"Because it's working." He said simply. I glowered at him and he smirked before turning into the twister again and charging right at me.

But this time, something strange happened. Instead of knocking me to the ground, he went right through me. As in, I didn't move and he tornadoed through my front and out my back. "The hell?" He demanded, stopping and staring at me. "You're intangible?"

"I...maybe?" I questioned. He looked at me, utterly confused for a moment, before hitting his knees with a groan. Kira was standing behind him, holding up a fireball and smirking down at the smoking, smoldering mess of the back of his shirt.

"You did say not to be predictable." She pointed out. She looked at me for a moment, then raised an eyebrow. "What are you waiting for? Get the flag."

"Uh...right!" I sped towards the flag, and thankfully, I was able to grab it without a problem. I sped back to Kira's side, holding the dark gray flag in my hands, the bright red Borromean rings on the side facing us.

"So, how come you didn't mention you could phase?" She asked, curious.

"I didn't know I could." It must be some sort of hidden ability. Spin shot me a look as he climbed to his feet.

"I thought you told Calla that you made your chip?" He questioned. I paused, then raised my chin.

"I'm just that good." I told her

**Naomi's POV**

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" I questioned as Kameron ducked into one tunnel before coming back out and going down another.

"No clue!" The electrokinetic called back. I sighed - normally, I'd be amused by the way Kameron kept getting turned round in here, but we'd already run into two of my brother's surprise obstacles, and I wasn't keen on running into any more. "Oh, hey."

"Kameron?" I called, hearing the surprise in his voice. I caught up with the younger boy a few feet down the tunnel to my left. "I see."

"Wow." Leo climbed off the rock he'd been perched on, looking at us with a vaguely impressed look on his face. "That was faster than I thought. You guys might be the first to find one of us."

"We still have to go through you." Kameron pointed out logically, eyeing the flag behind him, stuck between two rocks. The red borromean rings symbol stood out against the gray background.

"Yes, you do." Leo agreed, stepping closer to the center of the tunnel, planting himself firmly between us and the flag. He smirked, glancing at me. "And don't think I'm going to go easy on you just because you're my little sister, Nai."

"Course not." I replied. I looked back at Kameron. "Follow the plan, got it?"

"You're the boss." Kameron replied, smiling confidently. I nodded, then, in one fluid motion, hit a button on my prototype Davenwatch, turned to Leo, and shot a plasma ball out of the shooter located at the inside of my wrist.

Leo dodged it with ease, but his eyes were wide with surprise. "I thought Calla wasn't finished yet." He commented in surprise. I smiled.

"Well, someone had to test it." I replied before shooting another two quick shots at him. Kameron flew into the air, flying towards Leo, but not shooting quite yet. Leo raised his hand and sent a laser sphere towards Kameron, who dodged to the side to avoid, but misjudged how little room he had in the tunnel and ended up hitting the tunnel wall hard. I didn't stop to check if he were okay - he didn't hit the wall that hard, just enough to stun him for a brief moment - but instead shot another plasma blast at Leo. He stepped to the side, avoiding it altogether. He turned to the side, making himself less of a target before sending a couple of quick shots my way. I slid behind a rock, hoping that Kameron had recovered by now.

I spun around the rock, shooting a blast at Leo. However, he shot a laser sphere at me at the same time, and the two attacks collided with each other. The result was a bright white flash that temporarily blinded us both.

"Whoa." I stepped back, half-expecting another attack from Leo, but he looked just as surprised as I did.

"Okay." He grinned before looking at me. "Later we're going to see how we can turn that to our advantage."

"Definitely." I agreed smiling. Then, just like that, I jumped back into the battle and sent a powerful blast of plasma towards him. This time, instead of shooting back, Leo spun around and grabbed a hold of one of the stalagmites. Using the strength of his bionic arm, he ripped the top half of the stalagmite off of the bottom as if it weighed nothing at all, and swung it towards the plasma blast. Not only did it successfully block the attack, but it sent the plasma blast back towards me. I hit the ground as fast as I could, and yet the blast still singed the top of my hair.

"What did I say about not being predictable?" He questioned, still holding the stalagmite loosely in his hands. I raised myself up on my elbows and looked up at him.

"Hey, Leo?" I asked before blowing a strand of hair out of my face. "Where's Kameron?"

My brother paused, having been so caught up in his fight with me that he'd forgotten about the younger kid. Kameron cleared his throat, and Leo turned around to see the kid holding the flag between his two hands.

"You didn't actually say that we had to beat you." Kameron told him, just like he'd mentioned to me when we'd first started talking strategy an hour ago. "Just that we had to get the flag."

Leo stared at him for a long moment, his mouth open as he tried to think of a way to protest, before his shoulders slumped in defeat.

**Emily's POV**

The first ten minutes were spent in silence as we listened to the crocodiles scratch at the ice barrier. A part of me was annoyed with my uncle - what the hell was he thinking - but the other part of me understood why he'd use them. Organic tech wasn't under the control of my powers, and he likely wanted to see what I would do when I couldn't control them.

I sighed, rolling my head across the rock wall to look at Seraphina. Aside from a frown, her face was expressionless as she watched the crocodiles.

"I don't mean to be a jerk, okay?" I eventually said, breaking the silence.

"What?" Sera questioned, turning around with her arms crossed. I sighed, looking down at my shoes.

"I know I can be a jerk sometimes. I don't mean to be, okay?" I told her. "I just...I'm frustrated."

"You're not the only one who had to adjust to a new situation." She pointed. I nodded.

"I know, and I know it's been hard for you. But the difference is, if you're sad about it, or if Kira or Kameron complain, everyone understands. Everyone's on your side." I shrugged. "And I get why, and I know I should be being nicer, I just..."

"You just what?" Sera raised her eyebrows at me. I looked up at her.

"This time next year, I'll be living and going to school 1,055 miles away. This is my last year at home, and my dad's on another planet, my mom is too busy trying to juggle all of this for anything else, and I just went from being an only child to sharing a bathroom with a particularly messy pyrokinetic, an alien, and a boy, all of whom I barely know, and I didn't have a say in any of it." I listed. "I know it's not as bad as your guys situations, but my life got turned upside down too. But the moment I say anything negative about it, I'm the bad guy."

"Emily-" Sera began, but I shook my head.

"It's not fair, is all I'm saying. And maybe that's selfish, or whatever, but just because I'm Chase Davenport's daughter does not mean I have to be selfless all the time." I muttered. I sighed. "Look, I am sorry for taking it out on you. None of this is your fault anyway. I'll try to be nicer, I really will. I just wanted you to see my perspective, alright?"

Sera was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." I said quickly. She nodded.

"I know. Doesn't mean I can't be sorry." She replied. I nodded, and we lulled back into a more comfortable silence. After a while, Sera spoke up again. "Waiting isn't working."

"I agree." I nodded, pushing myself up from the wall. Stepping nearer to the barrier, I could see the crocodiles slowly but surely scratching away at the barrier. They were already halfway through, and soon enough it would break. I glanced at her. "I don't suppose you could just freeze them solid."

"That's harder said than done." Sera told me slowly. I shrugged.

"Fair enough." I agreed. I glanced at her. "Do you think they'll stick together, or split up if we run in different directions?"

"They'll still chase one of us." She pointed out. I nodded.

"I know. But do you have any other ideas?" I questioned.

"We could just run. Leo wouldn't have programmed these things to kill us, right?"

"I don't think so." I replied. I nodded. "It's the best idea we've got."

"Jump over the barrier on three?" Sera suggested. I took a deep breath, then backed up a couple of steps.

"One...two...three!" I shouted before taking a running leap at the barrier.

**Naomi's POV**

"Took you guys long enough!" Noah called as Leo, Kameron, and I walked back into Mission Command. Katherine, Spin, Kira, and Noah were all waiting for us, sitting around the cyber computer in the center of the room. Kira laughed lightly at that, amused.

"Nice job guys." Leo smiled proudly. He glanced between Katherine and Spin before pulling his wife into his arms. "So, who else is back? Em and Sera, or Char and Ben?"

"Ben and Charlotte found me in about ten minutes. They're either super lucky or ridiculously good at navigating the tunnels." Katherine explained with a laugh. "They went out to get food."

"So that means that Sera and Emily are the losers, right?" Kameron asked, smirking. Leo nodded.

"Hey, was that them who were screaming earlier?" Noah asked, concerned. "I thought I heard screaming."

"Us too." I frowned, remembering the noise. I'd thought I'd imagined it, but if Noah heard it too...

"I'm pretty sure I know which obstacle they ran into." Spin chuckled. Katherine shook her head at them.

"I can't believe you actually did that to them. It's not as funny as you think it is." She scolded them.

"What isn't?" I asked suspiciously.

"Crocodiles?!" We all turned around at the sound of Emily's exasperated voice. Seraphina and Emily were both standing in the tunnel entrance, clothes and hair askew and looks of absolute annoyance and exhaustion on their face. "Crocodiles in the tunnels? Are you kidding me?"

"Well, it looks like you lost them." Leo pointed out, holding back laughter.

"Yeah, after a hour of trying to get them lost in the tunnels." Sera snapped, equally annoyed. Leo and Spin chuckled, grinning at each other. "You bionic humans are insane."

"Not all of us." Katherine pointed out. Sera sent her a look.

"Well, most." She declared before dropping into one of the seats behind one of the computer desks. Emily, on the other hand, started heading for the hyperlift.

"It was a joke, Emmy." Katherine reminded her. Emily paused and looked back at us.

"I know. But I need to deal with all of this," she gestured vaguely at her messy hair, "before I have to leave to meet Darius."

"She has a date." Noah explained to his aunt.

"It's not a date." Emily corrected. "Just a homework thing."

And with that final word, she used the hyperlift to speed back upstairs. Kira glanced at Katherine.

"It is a date. She's just in denial." She announced cheerfully.

**Emily's POV**

"And then she tried to convince me to go midnight rock climbing with her." I explained. Darius laughed again, shaking his head.

"And how'd that work out for her?" He questioned before taking a bite of his sandwich. I shivered a little as a breeze ran over us, zipping up my sweater.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure; I refused to go. But when she came by the next morning, she was covered in scratches and bruises, and refused to talk about it, so I would say not so well." I replied, earning another laugh.

"God, how are you two such good friends?" He questioned, shaking his head again. I shrugged.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I don't know what I'd do without her. Charlotte's practically my sister." I shrugged. "What about you and Matt?"

He shrugged. "It's a long story."

I laughed. "You do that every time I ask you a question that's vaguely personal, you say that it's a long story."

"I'm just not one of those people who always talk about themselves." He insisted.

"You have to tell me something." I said, laughing a little. He sighed dramatically.

"Alright, I'll tell you two things." he said, his tone falsely-annoyed. "On one condition."

"What is it?" I asked suspiciously. He smirked.

"Oh, no, you have to agree first." He replied. "You might want to make your questions worth it."

I bit my lip, considering. "What's your plan after school?"

He hesitated, but true to his word, he answered. "Archaeology, not sure what school though."

I nodded. Kinda made sense. "What do your parents do?" I inquired.

"My mom's a soldier." He replied. I nodded.

"And your dad?" I asked. He shook his head. To my surprise, he started scowling.

"Only met him once, wasn't impressed." He said shortly. I nodded.

"Okay." I wasn't going to push him on that. "So what's this condition?"

That put the smile back on Darius' face. He didn't answer, but instead leaned in close, face nearing mine.

"Hey guys," As if on some sort of cue, my mom's car pulled up on the curb just then, the passenger side window rolled down. I pulled back, running a hand through my hair in embarrassment. "You guys all done at the library?"

"I thought you weren't picking me up for another ten minutes?" I mentioned, quickly getting my stuff together. She shrugged.

"Traffic was good." She explained. She glanced past me. "Hi there."

"Hi Mrs. Davenport. I'm Darius Moore."

"Hi Darius. Just call me Calla. Mrs. Davenport makes me feel old." She told him.

"You are old." I joked, climbing into the car.

"Hey!" Mom protested, unoffended. I laughed and looked at Darius.

"To be continued?" He suggested, smirking. I smiled.

"I'll see you Monday." I replied instead.

"It's nice to meet you, Darius." Mom told him before driving off. She glanced at me a few times as she drove us home, smiling cheekily.

"Anything I need to know?" She asked me, clearly feeling better enough to tease me. I brushed my hair behind my ear, cheeks flushed.

"No. Nothing." I insisted, looking back out the window. Monday was sure to be interesting.


	6. Hostage Situation

**Ben's POV**

"Good morning." Naomi greeted cheerfully when she opened the door to the penthouse for me. "I hope one of those is for me."

"No, I got coffee for everyone else, and two for Calla." I said straight-faced as I walked in, balancing two trays of Starbucks in my hands. She laughed lightly, stepping aside to let me place them down on the counter just as Calla came walking down the stairs, her face buried in her tablet. "Morning Calla."

She didn't respond, instead walking into the kitchen while flipping through images on her device. I glanced over at Naomi for an explanation, but she merely shrugged.

"The product launch is today." She explained. I nodded in understanding. Naomi smiled and cleared her throat as Calla started looking for a coffee pod. "Ben has coffee."

That caught her attention. Calla looked up, somewhat startled, then smiled when her gaze landed on me. "Oh, hello Ben."

I chuckled. "Hey Calla. Got you a caramel macchiato."

"Thanks Ben." She told me, grabbing the properly labelled cup and placing it next to her tablet before she opened the fridge.

"Hey," Naomi frowned at her, looking slightly concerned. "Was that you I heard earlier?"

"I'm fine." Calla sent her a look. Naomi returned the stare.

"You sound like you were being sick." She pointed out. I looked at Calla, frowning.

"I'm okay, seriously. You're as bad as Leo." She muttered, grabbing a piece of fruit out of the fridge.

"Then what's with the banana?" I asked. She sent me a look.

"Cramps." She said bluntly. I nodded, noticing the tension in her shoulders.

"Morning." Emily greeted, coming down the stairs before anyone else. I could hear Kira and Kameron upstairs, the two arguing over who would get to use the shower after Seraphina. "Ooh, coffee. Whoever bought it, I love you."

"Thanks Em." I chuckled, as she quickly downed half her own cup. Calla shook her head, amused.

"What are you doing dressed so early?" She asked suspiciously.

"Field trip. Charlotte, Ava, and I have to be at school early." Emily explained.

"Oh, right." Calla nodded. "The CCEU visit."

"You know, I'm helping out with a tour of the journalism department." Naomi mentioned, glancing at her niece. "I know none of you guys are applying to journalism, but come say hi."

"If we can get a second away, sure." Emily promised. Calla smiled, grabbing her coffee cup.

"So, have you made a decision on whether or not you're going to apply there?" Calla asked before taking a sip of her coffee. She immediately spit it back into the cup. "Okay, that is the most disgusting coffee I've ever tasted."

"Is it?" Naomi frowned.

"Yes, who made that?" She demanded, staring at the cup in disgust.

"The girl with the pink hair at the Starbucks a couple of blocks down." I answered slowly. "She's literally your favorite person who works there."

"Didn't you tip her, like, thirty bucks at Christmas?" Emily added, walking over. She took a tenative sip of her mom's drink, then, in a puzzled voice, said, "Mom, this tastes fine."

"Emmy, I know my coffee." She told her. "I think I would know the difference between good coffee and..." She paused suddenly, looking back down at the coffee, then at the banana still in her hands. "Shit."

"Mom?" Emily frowned. Calla didn't answer, the wheels in her head obviously spinning over something. She was staring at her fingers, moving them as if she were trying to count something on them. "Mom?"

"Shit." Calla whispered, half to herself.

"Calla." Naomi called loudly. Calla looked up, drawn out of her thoughts.

"Uh...sorry. Sorry." She shook her head.

"Is everything okay?" Emily asked, frowning. Calla nodded quickly.

"Great, yeah." She replied, still obviously distracted. She glanced down at her coffee cup, then grabbed her tablet in a hurry. "I have to get to work to prepare for the product launch. Have fun today."

Without waiting for a response, she quickly kissed Emily on the forehead and was out the door before anyone could say anything. Emily slowly turned around to face us.

"It's not just me, right? That was super weird, even for Mom?" She asked, confused, eyeing the door as if she expected Calla to come bursting in a second later. Naomi nodded in agreement.

"We'll check on her later." I decided, glancing between the two girls. For all we knew, it was just some weird mad scientist thing. Maybe. Probably.

**Emily's POV**

"I feel bad for Aaron, Seraphina, Kameron, and Kira." Ava commented as we walked into the main library of Centium City's Elite University. "Stuck at school while we're on a field trip."

"It's not just a field trip. It's a basically a recruitment drive." Darius grumbled. Charlotte gave him a look.

"You act like it's the army. They're just giving us a tour of CCEU." She told him kindly. He sighed dramatically. Inwardly, I agreed with him; I wasn't too excited about the trip myself, but the whole thing had been mandatory for graduating students. "C'mon, it'll be fun. We'll get a tour, t-shirts, and food in the cafeteria. All for free."

"Besides, isn't it a good idea to get a good look at the school you might be attending next year?" Ava added.

"If we intend on going." I replied. Charlotte and Ava both looked at me sharply.

"Calla still hasn't changed your mind on that?" Ava seemed surprised.

"She's been busy." Charlotte told her before looking at me. "Are you seriously still refusing to apply?"

"I don't want to go to school here." I shrugged. They were both looking at me. "Guys, c'mon. Don't tell me this is your first pick."

"No, but it is my third." Charlotte replied. I frowned at her; I'd thought that it would for sure be fifth at the best.

"It's good to have fall backs." Ava reasoned as well. I nodded.

"I know. But it doesn't mean that CCEU has to be one of them." I argued. Darius cleared his throat and stepped between the two of us.

"How about this? You two enjoy the tour, soak up everything you want to soak up, and Emily and I will go over to that cafe," he gestured at the small coffee shop in the corner of the library," and enjoy our day off from school."

"I don't think we should separate." Ava mentioned, giving Darius a look. Darius returned it, smiling charmingly at the black-haired girl.

"It'll be fine. There's no rule that we all have to actually go on the tour." He pointed out. "Besides, it's better than one of us breaking off on our own and getting into trouble."

"I know you're talking about me." I looked up and over my shoulder at him. He smirked a little, but didn't look away from Ava. He probably realized that Charlotte would listen if he managed to get her on board with our plan.

"Alright." She agreed slowly. "Stay together though; don't get lost."

"There are signs everywhere. I'm sure we'll be fine." I called over my shoulder, already heading for the coffee shop.

"Hold up." Darius called after me, jogging up to me as I got into the line. "You're fast."

"Us Davenports take our coffee very seriously." I replied. He cracked a smile. "Thanks, you didn't have to do that."

"It wasn't just for you. I didn't feel like taking the tour either." He replied. I frowned.

"No?" I raised an eyebrow at that. He shook his head.

"Please, I have the opportunity to go to school pretty much anywhere. The last thing I'm going to do is go to school anywhere near here." He replied. I nodded, understanding the feeling. As much as I loved my family, I wanted to see how well I'd do on my own, and that wasn't going to happen at a school literally named after a superhero team my parents founded.

"Anywhere in particular?" I asked, curious.

"SUNY, Harvard, maybe Penn State." He shrugged. I nodded impressed. "What about you?" He asked. I began to respond, but he stopped me, grinning. "Let me guess...M.I.T., Caltech, Stanford."

I felt myself blushing a little. "That's...exactly right."

"They're some of the best in the country for STEM programs." He nodded. "And you're the type of girl who'd aim for the best and nothing less."

"The type of girl?" I repeated, laughing a little. "How well do you think you know me?"

He smiled genuinely at me. "I know enough."

I felt my cheeks heat up as I remembered the other night. I turned around quickly to face the front of the line, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. "Yeah, well..." I said, not really knowing what else to say.

**Calla's POV**

"Alright, final checks, everybody!" I called, walking through the display room. Around me, my employees were hustling around the room, double checking everything from lighting to signage. "Dustin, I need you to go over the guest list, make sure everyone is here. If anyone isn't, I want to know who and why. Toni, I need you in the control room, making sure everything runs smoothly." I directed, looking over the list of the products on the holoscreen connected to my Davenwatch. "Spencer, I need today's itinerary sent to my screen."

"Already done. Check your email." My secretary told me. I smiled.

"Thank you, Spence." I smirked - yep, he was definitely a keeper. I turned to AJ and Leo. "Okay, you guys ready?"

"Are you? You seem distracted." He commented. I looked at him sharply. "No, I'm not." I replied, confused. AJ raised an eyebrow about that.

"Yes, you are." He told me. I opened my mouth to argue with him, but Leo cut me off.

"Stop deflecting, AJ. It's okay to be nervous about selling your invention." He told the younger boy. AJ frowned at him, affronted, but Leo chuckled. "Go get ready. You'll do fine, kid." He turned to me. "We should go."

"We'll see you in a few, AJ." I promised him. He nodded, then walked over to where his own invention was on display, intent to make sure it looked perfect for the potential buyers.

"So, what's going on with you?" Leo asked as soon as he was gone. I looked at him, and he shook his head. "Don't say nothing. You got my and AJ's names mixed up four times today."

I stopped. "Have I really?" I demanded, eyes going wide. He shook his head.

"No, but the fact that you actually believed me for a second there proves that you are distracted. What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong." I insisted. "We'll talk about it later, alright? Right now, let's focus on this."

"Sure." He agreed, smiling. I grinned back at him before sweeping through the doors and into the lobby area where several of our best clients and potential buyers were waiting.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" I called, getting everyone's attention. Most of the people in the room I recognized - some were representatives from tech stores who would be selling our products in their stores, while others were board members here to see what revenue I was able to generate for this quarter, and some were government reps who would be more interested in our weaponry than our regular products. There were a few that I didn't quite recognize, but the members of the board who couldn't make it to these things often sent their own reps to the sales, so I suspected most, if not all of the unknown faces, were some of those. "It's nice to see all of you again. I see we have some new faces in the crowd, welcome. Today we'll start by showcasing our latest products, then we'll start the auction after some light refreshments."

"Shall we?" Leo encouraged, gesturing to the doors. We led the group into the sales room, where several of the inventions on sale were sitting on pedestals. There was an employee stationed next to each of them, either the person who invented the product or one of the lab assistants who assisted in its design, production, or execution so that whoever was showing it off would have the best understanding of the product.

"Now, if you follow me, we'll start with our hexacopter. We don't have the scale model in the room-"

"They wouldn't let us stick something that big in here, sorry folks." Leo chuckled.

"But we do have our lovely prototype created by one of our best scientists. I'd like to introduce-"

Before I could finish what I was saying, the room exploded around me. I was pushed to the ground by the sudden explosion, things going flying everywhere.

I raised my head as the smoke started to clear, hoping that whatever had exploded was done, only to find the barrel of a blaster aimed right at my forehead. "Calla Davenport, it's a pleasure."

**Emily's POV**

"So, listen, about last week," Darius smiled, sliding slightly closer to me on the bench we'd found outside the cafe, "before your mom interrupted us..."

"Yeah?" I smiled back. He grinned, leaning in again.

"Emily!" He jerked back at the sound of Charlotte's voice. We turned to see my cousin running towards us, a panicked look on her face.

"What's going on?" I demanded. She was about to reply, when she suddenly glanced at Darius.

"Uh, we have to go home. It's important." She said, her voice shaky. "Your mom called."

I nodded, though I didn't quite understanding what was going on. "I'm sorry. Rain check." I told Darius.

"Uh...are you sure?" He stood up. He looked like he might try and stop me, but seemed uncertain about it.

"Yeah. I'll talk to you tomorrow." I promised before following Charlotte through the halls and out the doors. "Char, what's up? Do we have a mission?"

The look she gave me told me that we didn't, that it was something much worse.

**Ben's POV**

_"Davenport Industries taken hostage."_  The newscaster was saying as I ran into Mission Command. The kids, minus Naomi, were all inside, staring at the screen.  _"There is not yet word if anyone has been injured or killed yet, just that seven gunmen have taken a group of what we believe to be approximately thirty people hostage."_

"Hey." I called, getting most of their attention. Emily and Charlotte both looked frozen where they stood. Emily looked at me a minute later, eyes a little too wide to hide her panic. "Guys, they're going to be fine."

"Mama and Spin are still on that mission in the alps. I can't get a hold of either of them." Charlotte murmured, eyes locked on the screen.

"I know. Which is why we're going in to save them." I agreed. That got both girls, along with Kira, Noah, Kameron, and Seraphina to look at me. "Naomi's already on the scene, getting as much information as she can for when we arrive." I told them. "In the meantime, it's time for our first official mission. Time to suit up."

"Uh, I hate to break it to you, but you're the only one of us with a super suit." Kameron pointed out. I nodded, realizing that he was right, but MISS interrupted me before I could offer an alternative solution.

"Actually," she announced, "Miss Calla has been working on mission suits for all of you."

"Really?" Noah, despite the circumstances, looked excited at the prospect. Instead of verbally responding, MISS opened up one of the rock walls to our left. One by one, with Kira at the head, we stepped inside to see the weapon's vault fully stocked. At the far end stood eight mannequins. Seven of them had uniforms, clearly tailored specifically for their intended users, and one left empty, presumably for me to put my own uniform there if I chose. I nodded, smiling to myself.

"Suit up."

**xxx**

"I love this." Kira grinned, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear before twirling around in front of us. "What do you think?"

Her uniform was black with a four inch thick line running up both of her sides, and matching red boots. Unlike the rest of us, she didn't have any sleeves or gloves, giving her a little more freedom to use her fire powers. She was wearing a mask as well, the thin, red piece of fabric covering from just above her nose to her forehead, with eye holes large enough to prevent from obstructing her vision.

"It's okay." Charlotte smirked, adjusting her own gloves. Her uniform was also red, but a much darker, crimson shade. The front part of her uniform was better padded, likely made of a stronger kind of protective material, and, like her gloves and knee-high boots, was colored black. "Mine's better."

"Calla certainly went all out." Noah agreed. His uniform was much simpler than most of the uniforms - it was almost entirely a dark silver, aside from the black sections on his sides, inner arms, boots and gloves. His belt was mostly black, except for the silvery EF symbol on the buckle. He grinned as the others stepped into the room, having finished getting dressed. "You guys look nice."

"Thank you." Seraphina blushed a little, running one hand down her arm. Her uniform was mostly light blue - the shade matching the icy blue streak in her hair perfectly - with black sections on her hips, midsection, and upper chest, and 3/4 length sleeves. Instead of the usual elbow length gloves, she sported a pair of fingerless gloves, and her black boots were a little more stylish, with light blue straps hooked around them. They looked a little similar to some of the things I'd seen Skylar wear the few times I'd met her, and I realized that Calla must have styled them as such on purpose.

"Are we ready to go?" Kameron questioned, crossing his arms. His uniform was a faded gold color in the shirt, with a padded black vest and black pants with gold pockets. He had black gloves and boots as well, along with a black belt that had a gold EF insignia on the buckle. I glanced over to where one member of the team was still standing in front of the mannequin wall.

"Give me a minute." I told them. I walked over to her, past Naomi's green and black uniform that she'd been unable to grab before having to head out to the mission site. Emily was staring up at her uniform, clearly conflicted. "You okay?"

"The uniform." She said simply. I followed her gaze, looking over the uniform. The bottom half was mostly black, aside from two blue stripes on the outside of each of her thighs. The top was mostly blue, aside from her black sleeves and the black stripes on her sides, which matched her boots and gloves. Most significantly different from the rest of the uniforms, hers had a blue hood. "It was her's."

"She'll be okay." I promised her. She nodded faintly, still not looking away. I sighed; Charlotte was easy enough to distract with a mission and a new uniform, but Emily was more difficult. "She wouldn't have given it to you if you weren't ready."

"We're going to save them, right?" She asked. I nodded.

"We're the Elite Force now. We can do this." I assured her. She nodded. "Alright, time to go." I told her before looking around at the rest of the team. "We're a team now, guys. This may be our first official mission together, but we've got this. We just need to work together, alright?"

"Ben's right. We can do this." Sera agreed, exchanging looks with a few of the others.

"Let's go." Emily agreed, reaching up to grab her uniform's jacket.

**Calla's POV**

I glowered up at the masked intruder, hating how little I could do in this situation. There may have only been four of them, but after somehow managing to take out my security team, they'd taken everyone in the room hostage.

Leo and I were immediately separated from the rest of the group, our reputation as former members of the Bionic Academy apparently preceding us. AJ was shoved over with the others, looking as frustrated as I felt. He kept sending me and Leo looks, both concerned and expectant, clearly waiting for us to come up with a plan. The problem was, with two guns on us, and two more on our clients and guests, there was little either of us could really do without endangering anyone.

"So you're the bionic brat and the girl genius." One of the intruders mused. He too was wearing a visor, but I analyzed him as best as I could, memorizing the receding brown hairline, the sound of his voice, anything that could help us identify him later. "I thought you were supposed to be tough."

"They're not that tough." Another intruder commented. Their voices were very similar, I noted. Unusual, but might make a difference if I managed to get a recording and put it through my vocal recognition software. Hopefully, they hadn't taken out MISS' security cameras.

"Take off the masks." Leo suggested, crossing his arms. "Let's see how tough you are."

The two guys started towards Leo, and I tensed beside him. "Don't." I growled, glaring at them threateningly.

"Janus," one of the others warned, and, despite only using one name, both men stopped. I recognized him a little - he was one of the people who'd broken into Blizzard Corp, one we thought to be called Jupiter. "Cool it. Venus, Victoria, and Vulcan are almost done."

"Done what?" AJ called. Jupiter and the two men purposefully ignored him, but the other guy - a black haired young man also wearing a visor, raised his gun a little. He'd been the one to threaten me after the smoke cleared, if I remembered correctly.

"We need to hurry." He warned his buddies. "Discordia says we're going to have company."

"You hear that, boss?" Jupiter raised one hand to his ear, touching an ear piece. "Discordia's given us a heads up." He listened for a moment, then turned to his friend. "You hear from Neptune?"

"Radio silence." He replied. I exchanged looks with Leo; though they might be ignoring us a little, we were learning quite a bit about their little team, starting with the fact that none of these guys were the leader. I could work with that.

"You know, not to sound cliché, but you're not going to get away with this." I commented, trying to sound nonchalant. I looked over at Jupiter. "You DO know who I am, right?"

"Calla Davenport." He mused, glancing at his friend before sauntering over to me. "CEO of Davenport Industries, former member of the Bionic Academy and the Elite Force. I'm not impressed."

"Hurtful." I commented sarcastically. "You forgot one thing. I'm also the wife of Chase Davenport, bionic superhuman. He's not exactly the kind of person you want to piss off."

"It's a shame he's off planet then, huh? Or that the other two bionic heroes in the city are out of the city, isn't it?" Jupiter mocked. I blinked in surprise - while we didn't go to great lengths to hide Chase's 'sabbatical' as we were calling it, I hadn't expected the intruders to know about it yet, and there was no way that they should have known that he was off planet. Jupiter opened his mouth to say something more, possibly to mock me, but paused when someone started speaking in his ear piece. The voice was too muffled to hear properly, but something about it sent shivers down my spine. Something about it was familiar; if only I could hear it better... "Victoria's got activity by the south entrance."

**Emily's POV**

_"Alright guys, you know the plan. You got this."_  I heard Ben say into the comms as Kira and I made our way down the south hall.

"Got it. See you after we kick the bad guys' butts." Kira smirked.

"Oh, is that how you think this is going to end?" Another voice mused. A woman wearing black stepped out into the hall, a dark visor hiding her face from view. "Oh, so naive."

Kira and I exchanged looks. "We're naive? You're the one misjudging us because of our age."

"Please, I don't care how old you are. Fifty, fifteen, doesn't matter - you're still not walking away from this." She told us before raising her hands. Two blasts of dark purple plasma formed in them before she threw them at us, using as much force as she could. I dropped back a step, sliding to the side, while Kira ducked underneath the blast before shooting a stream of fire at the woman. I raised my plasma blaster and took a shot as well, hoping that at least one of our attacks would hit her.

The woman hit the wall, just barely avoiding being burnt, and then shot a plasma blast at mine. The two collided, cancelling each other out, and she charged at Kira.

I raised my weapon and shot at her again, but instead of dodging it, or blocking it, the woman suddenly transformed, her body changing from solid to a swarm of buzzing cells in the span of half a second. The swarm opened up a hole in itself, allowing the plasma ball to fly through it harmlessly.

"The hell?" Kira shouted, raising her arms over her head to defend herself. She lit her entire body on fire in that moment, as some sort of defense mechanism. It worked to protect her - the swarm separated and flew away from her. "What is she?"

"Doesn't matter - she clearly doesn't like fire!" I called back. I shot another plasma blast at the swarm, getting its (her?) attention. She charged at me and I backed up, not out of fear, but so that I was right in Kira's line of fire. "Hold!" I shouted, shooting another plasma blast at the swarm to keep myself as the target. Then, once it was upon me, I screamed, "Fire!"

I dropped to my knees just as Kira raised her hand, and a blast of fire burst through the spot I'd been previously standing. It caught the bottom half of the swarm, and the buzzing turned loud and higher pitched, almost like a scream, before it reformed into the woman who'd started fighting us. She hit the wall behind her, hard, breathing heavily as she glared at us.

**Ben's POV**

Admittedly, it was a little concerning when Emily and Kira suddenly cut off, but I knew that whatever they were facing, they could handle it. Besides, by the looks of things, we had our own problem.

"Well, look what we've got here." Two visor-wearing guys stepped into the hall in front of Naomi, Noah, and I.

"More intruders." The second one mused.

"Intruders? You broke in first." Noah pointed out.

"Semantics!" They both snapped at him. He paused, glancing at Naomi and I out of the corner of his eye.

"Look," I stepped forward, "if you surrender now and release the hostages, no one needs to get hurt."

"We're not the ones who are going to be getting hurt." The one on the right.

"You are." The one on the left added. They stepped closer together, and Naomi raised her weapon - a large blaster she'd gotten me to grab from Calla's weapon's vault. A bright light started to fill the room though, much to our surprise. Naomi, Noah, and I all looked away, shielding our eyes from the blinding light.

"You want me to surrender?" When we turned back, the two guys had been replaced by a different man, this one much taller (standing at almost 8 feet tall) with a more menacing voice. His vizor was gone, revealing an ugly, red face with a misshapen nose underneath.

"Okay..." Noah drew out the word, glancing back at us. "I did not see that one coming."

"Doesn't matter." Naomi raised her gun to shoot at him, but he raised his hand first. He shot a strange looking, brown sludge-like blast at the weapon, and to our shock, the moment it hit, the weapon began to disintegrate in Naomi's hands. She gasped in shock and dropped the weapon, but it had completely disintegrated before it touched the ground. "Okay, it might matter. A little."

"He can't destroy what he can't touch!" Noah hissed before speeding towards the super villain. Instead of charging him directly though, Noah swerved to the left, taking a U-turn around the villain to confuse him. Realizing that Noah intended this more as a distraction than an actual attack, I leaped into the fight, flying right at the villain. I slammed into him with all my fight, knocking him off balance. Noah came up behind him at the last minute, tripping him from behind. The criminal fell back a little, but quickly recovered, too quickly for my liking. I prepared to charge him again, but suddenly, he reached his hand out, right into Noah's path.

"Whoa!" Noah shouted in shock as the villain stood up, holding the him upside down by the ankle. The kid looked more stunned than anything else, mostly at the fact that the criminal was both tall and strong enough to hold the 5'11 speedster upside down and off the ground. I paused in my attack, not wanting to hurt Noah, but also not having many ways to attack the criminal without making that a risk.

Naomi, on the other hand, had no such reservations.

The criminal ducked a little, staring at her with surprised eyes as a fire extinguisher went flying just over his head. I turned to see my best friend standing partially outside of a storage closet, holding another fire extinguisher up in a threatening manner. "Put him down." She threatened, glaring at him.

The criminal looked like he didn't know whether to be amused or worried by her actions, but it was enough of a distraction for me to get in there. I charged and then leaped forward, aiming for the criminal's legs while he was still distracted by Naomi. I hit him hard, forcing him to drop Noah (I would apologize later for the pained grunt I heard him make) and took him down to the ground.

"You-" The red-faced criminal placed his hand on my shoulder, and I suddenly felt an odd burning sensation. I rolled away from him, clawing at the area to discover that part of my uniform had started to disintegrate. I was unharmed thanks to my almost invulnerable skin, but it left a rather nasty hole that I'd have to fix later. "Tecton's son." The criminal said, clearly recognizing where I'd gotten my powers from.

"In the flesh." I growled, before backing up to where Naomi and Noah quickly flanked me.

**Calla's POV**

"Think it's the kids?" Leo hissed, watching Jupiter and his friend carefully. Janus - both of them - had left to go deal with whoever our 'company' was, leaving the two intruders left to watch us. The unnamed criminal looked a little jumpy, ready to fire at the slightest noise as he kept his faced and gun turned towards us, while Jupiter was as calm as could be.

"Quiet." The unnamed one growled at us. I glanced at Leo quietly, waiting. With the just Jupiter and Jumpy in the room, we could take them. We just needed an opening.

And sure enough, one made itself present to us. Just not the one we were hoping for.

I swore silently to myself as I saw the door at the far end open slightly, and Kameron's head poked out. It was partially hidden - it had been meant as a employee entrance only and had been hidden carefully by curtains for the event, so Jupiter and his buddy hadn't noticed yet, but it certainly answered Leo's question. I shook my head at Kameron, hoping he'd get the message and back out, but when he met my gaze, he just smiled, then ducked behind the door. Whatever that smile was about, it wasn't a good thing, I knew that for sure.

A moment later, the lights above us flickered, then went out, and I had no doubt that it had been our young electrokinetic's doing. Jupiter and Jumpy looked a little caught off guard by the sudden power outage, and Leo, AJ, and I all took our shot at the same moment.

AJ tackled Jupiter just as Leo and I charged at Jumpy. The gun in the unnamed criminal's hands went off, and I dropped, a searing pain racing across the side of my head. I hit my knees, my head spinning a little. I reached up to touch the wound, feeling a dizzy spell come over me. When I brought my hand back, there was some blood, but surprisingly little. I blinked, a little confused - weren't head wounds supposed to bleed a lot? And why was my hearing all distorted, like I was underwater?

"Calla!" Leo's shout brought me back to the present. I could see him on the ground, with the other criminal standing over him with the gun. Leo normally wasn't so easy to take down, so he'd likely been distracted by me, and Jumpy had taken advantage. The criminal looked like he didn't know who to shoot, then, in a sudden, jerky movement, fixed the gun on Leo.

"Wait-" I raised my hand, trying to...I don't know, stop him? Distract him enough for Leo to take him down? Something.

Suddenly, Jumpy stumbled and let out a cry of pain, dropping his gun. Seraphina and Charlotte stood behind him, the former holding a ball of ice in her hands. Past them, I could see Kameron and AJ standing between Jupiter and the other hostages, both of them looking ready for a fight.

"Papa!" Charlotte exclaimed, while keeping her eyes locked on Jumpy. Leo didn't answer her, instead scrambling to get the gun himself. He grabbed a hold of it before Jumpy could take it back and aimed it at the criminal's stomach, slowly standing as he did so.

"Mars!" Jupiter shouted before the criminal could try anything stupid. AJ and Kameron had backed Jupiter up against the wall, but he was facing us. He shook his head slowly, and gestured vaguely at his wrist. It was then that I noticed that they both had identical watches, and they weren't the Davenwatches either.

"Stop them!" I called, but it was too late. Before anyone could do anything, both of them slammed their hands onto the digital faces of their watches, and they disappeared before us, geoleaping to safety.

"Well, that's not fair!" Kameron complained in protest, looking around.

"Are you okay?" AJ demanded, running over to me. I nodded, slowly climbing to my feet. I still felt a little dizzy and off balance, but it wasn't nearly as bad as before.

"Where's Emily? Are the others safe?" I demanded, looking at Kameron, Charlotte, and Sera.

**Xxx**

"They all got away?" Jazz asked, distracting me as she finished tying up the stitches. I hummed in response, frustrated by the turn of events.

"All of them, they all geoleaped away at the same moment." I complained.

"What did they want?" She inquired, brow furrowed in concentration.

"Tech, we think. Miles sent a few tech experts from S.H.I.R.T. to help go through inventory, but we're pretty sure Venus, Victoria, and Vulcan broke into the high security vault for more than just kicks."

"Venus, Victoria, and Vulcan? Like the Roman gods?" Jazz asked, leaning back. "All done, by the way."

"Sounds like it. Thanks, by the way." I told her, reaching up to feel along the top of my ear. I winced at the feeling of the three stitches at the top.

"You're lucky, you know. Half an inch lower and you would have lost the ear. An inch to the side, and...well, you're lucky." She concluded. I raised both my eyebrows in agreement. "You'll be fine. The stitches are dissolvable, so you don't need to come back in."

"Great." I hesitated, wondering if maybe I shouldn't just walk out of here so quickly. She paused at the door, frowning.

"Something else, Calla?" She asked. I licked my lips, then nodded. She closed the door and leaned against it, crossing her arms. "What's going on?"

"I haven't really felt like myself lately. Tired, moody, and just plain...off."

"Could be stress." She commented. I nodded.

"It could be. But...I've been sick, stomach issues. And there've been a few dizzy spells too. And this morning, well..." I shrugged, rubbing my hand against my arm and looking up at her. "I have a theory, would like to see if I'm right."

She looked at me thoughtfully. "How long has it been since Chase left?" She asked.

"Five weeks." I responded, having been counting the days in my head. She nodded thoughtfully.

"We can run a test." She decided, looking as if she'd come to the same conclusion that I had.

**Emily's POV**

"Hey, Mom?" I poked my head into my mom's bedroom. She was sitting on top of her bed, her back against the backboard and her holocomputer in her lap. But the screen in front of her was blank, no work evidently being done. She looked up suddenly, as if I'd startled her, but her face melted into a warm smile.

"Hey, honey." She greeted, patting the bed next to her. I didn't wait for any more invitation, walking in and climbing on top of the bed next to her. She pulled me into a hug from the side and I leaned my head on her shoulder. "Crazy day?"

I nodded. "Are you, Leo, and AJ really okay?" I asked. She smiled and nodded, brushing a strand of hair from my face.

"We're really okay." She promised me. I nodded. "You guys did really good out there."

"We didn't even beat them." I groaned. She nodded.

"But you held your ground. And sometimes that's more important." She assured me. "I think I underestimated you. All of you."

I smiled a little. "You gave me your mission suit."

"I was a hero. It's your turn now." She explained. She frowned. "Also, I think it might look better on you."

"Yeah, well, you're old." I teased. She laughed good-naturedly at that.

"I hope your kids tease you as much as you tease me."

Then she stopped, frowning. "What's wrong?" I asked. She shook her head, brightening again.

"Nothing." She told me. She sighed. "Listen, honey. I know you're not big on change, and that this whole situation has been a huge change for you."

"It's okay." I assured her. She raised an eyebrow.

"Is it?" She questioned skeptically. I thought about it, then nodded.

"I mean, I didn't like it at first." I admitted. "But it's not all that bad. Sera's not a terrible roommate," Mom rolled her eyes, "Okay, fine. She's actually a pretty decent roommate once I gave her a chance. And having Kira and Kameron around is like having younger siblings."

"Really?" Mom looked surprised and, oddly, a little relieved. I nodded.

"In a good way, not a I-hate-my-siblings way." I explained. She smiled.

"That's good." She commented. I nodded, and then noticed the look she was giving me. "So..."

"So..." I mimicked. She pressed her lips together.

"How would you feel about having an actual younger sibling?" She asked, absently rubbing her belly. I stared at her, looking between her patient and hopeful expression and her belly. After a moment, I finally responded.

"Dad is in for a real surprise when he gets back." I smiled back at my mom.


	7. Field Trip

**Emily's POV**

"So, I think that's enough research, don't you?" I hummed thoughtfully as I packed away my holo-reader. "We have enough to make it work and to explain the science to even people like Patrick, and Mr. Perez did say not to spend too much on the research...Darius?"

"Huh?" He looked up from his phone and I crossed my arms, a little hurt that he'd been ignoring me. "Sorry, my mom's been texting me."

"She still on your back and stuff?" I asked, softening my gaze a little. Darius and his mom had gotten in a fight recently, and I knew things were a little rough at home, even if he hadn't actually told me so. Not that I'd actually pressed the issue; while I was admittedly a little concerned for him, after everything that had happened at the Davenport Industries sale, I'd been distracted myself.

"It's fine." He assured me. I frowned.

"You sure?" I asked gently. He nodded. "Because, despite what Charlotte may have said, I am a good listener."

"I know." He chuckled. "But it's fine. She's always like this. Give it a few more days, she'll forget about it and move on."

"What happened anyway?" I asked bluntly. He hesitated. "You don't have to tell me, sorry."

"It's fine." He said again. "I just didn't do something she asked me to, and she's overreacting."

"Alright then." I got the sense that he was looking for a chance to change the topic. "So, I was thinking, maybe we can get together on Tuesday and work on the model? We can come over here after school."

"Sure." Darius smiled at me and I beamed back before going back to putting my stuff away. "Hey, what are you doing tomorrow night?"

"Uh, family thing." I frowned before looking up. "Why, is Tuesday not the best day?"

"No, I just thought we could grab a bite. Never mind." He shook his head, putting his stuff away.

"You wanted to go out to eat? Why?" My mind completely blanked. He gave me this amused and exasperated look.

"I was asking you out on a date." He mumbled, half to himself. I froze, caught off guard. "It's fine. Never mind. I should go anyway."

"Dare," I tried to stop him, but he was already heading for the door.

"I'll see you in class." He called over his shoulder.

"Darius!" I called louder this time. He stopped for a second by the library doors. "I'm busy tomorrow."

"I know." He sighed.

"I'm busy tomorrow," I repeated, as if he hadn't spoken. My heart was beating fast. I wasn't normally the girl guys asked out, let alone guys she kinda did like. And I certainly wasn't the kind to have a smooth response to the question, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to try, "but if you ask me again next week, I'll make sure my schedule is clear."

He paused, looking at me for a moment before a slow grin formed on his face. He didn't say anything, but left the building smiling about as happily as I felt.

**Charlotte's POV**

"This was such a good idea." I moaned, delighted, as I shoved a donut hole into my mouth. Kameron chuckled in agreement as we turned onto our street.

"Just save some for the others." He told me, though he was clearly amused by my enjoyment of the delicious pastries.

"Yeah, yeah." I waved him off, going on my tiptoes to try and grab another treat from the box he was failing to hold out of my reach. It didn't do much good - I was determined, and he wasn't trying all that hard anyway. I managed to grab another one even as I balanced a tray of drinks in my other hand. "Hey, there's Noah."

My older cousin was leaning against the side of Davenport Tower, having a very heated conversation with someone on his Davenwatch, if the slight glow from the device was anything to go by.

"Well, it's not like I asked to get stuck with a double shift, Blake." He growled, sounding frustrated. "Someone called in sick, what am I supposed to do?"

"We should go." Kameron suggested. I nodded, leading him into the building. I nodded in greeting to Mr. Brewer, the doorman, and headed for the elevator. "What was that about?"

"Noah and Blake had plans the other night, but he had to cancel because of the mission." It had been a last minute thing - Calla had sent Kameron, Kira, Noah, and Seraphina to handle a burning building while Emily, Naomi, Ben, and I had raced to the pier to help with a robbery in progress. Both missions had gone really well, actually, but with Noah unable to come up with a decent explanation for Blake, she was understandably pissed off.

"Got it." Kameron nodded in understanding as we stepped off the elevator.

"We brought donuts and lemonade." I announced cheerfully as we walked into the penthouse apartment. Everyone else was inside, aside from Noah, all ready to go on today's 'field trip'.

"Awesome." Kira grinned at us from where she was sitting next to Emily and Naomi, who were deep in conversation about a certain new kid who'd asked Em out on a date. Sera and Ben were in the kitchen, talking over coffee, while Calla was at her holocomputer and Papa was waiting by the door.

"Thank you guys." Calla smiled appreciatively as she helped us hand out the drinks. "So you all have your stuff?"

"It's just S.H.I.R.T. Headquarters, Mom. It's not like we need to bring a lot." Emily pointed out, giving her an amused look. "They won't even let us bring our holo-computers inside."

"It's for security reasons. Also, you don't need them." Ben pointed out. Emily rolled her eyes.

"Better to come prepared, in my opinion." She argued just as Noah walked in.

"Look who decided to join the party." Leo commented.

"Sorry." Noah said curtly, crossing his arms. "Can we go now?"

Calla raised an eyebrow at that. "Actually, Noah, you're going to be staying here with me today." She commented, her voice oddly controlled. Noah looked surprised at that, glancing around at us.

"Why?" He asked, baffled.

"Because I asked you to." Calla said, her tone leaving no room for arguement. She turned to the rest of us. "As for the rest of you, I expect your best behavior today. Miles is doing me a favor by letting you guys see how things work at S.H.I.R.T. and there's a lot you can learn from the way their operation works, alright? Do what you're told there and try not to set anything on fire or something?"

"Hey!" Kira exclaimed, offended.

"Or something." Calla emphasized to prove she wasn't just targeting the pyrokinetic. "Just behave, okay?"

"We will." Sera promised her quickly. Emily nodded in agreement.

"We promise not to let Kira set any fires." She added teasingly. Kira smacked her in the arm lightheartedly. Leo chuckled.

"Alright, c'mon guys. Field trip time!" He told us, leading us to the door. I saw him send Calla a look before walking out, and I couldn't help but wonder what else was going on.

**Noah's POV**

I sat on the couch as Calla walked around the room, feeling all too much like a little kid sent to the principal's office for the first time. My aunt didn't say anything for a while, instead going about the room and tidying up in complete silence, the tension in the air growing with every second.

I racked my brain, trying to think of what the hell she could be mad about. Sure, I'd been a little late this morning, but not really, and I normally got here for training early both to help out if they needed something or just in order to make sure I wasn't late again. Calla and Leo had both complimented how quickly I was getting the hang of my speed ("Your mom had more problems controlling it when she was your age than you do, but don't tell her I said that," Leo had told me one night after we'd finished a training run), so it couldn't be training related. And I'd been the one to lead the burning building mission, which had run much smoother than anyone had expected, so it couldn't be that either.

I'd just opened my mouth to ask her what was going on when Calla broke the silence first.

"Do you know how lucky you are?" She asked suddenly. I hesitated, not really expecting her to say something like that.

"Um...yes?" I answered unsure if I was supposed to respond or not. She stopped at the kitchen counter, looking at me.

"Not many parents can afford to fund their kids' college degrees, you know. You, Emily, Naomi, Charlotte, and Justine are all having your degrees paid for. You're going to walk away from an incredible education without a lick of debt." She commented, making my heart clench. "Kids like Kameron and Kira, they're going to buried in debt by time they're done. You're lucky."

"Calla-" I began, but she was on a roll.

"Did you know, before they left, your parents talked to me about your tuition? Yeah, they were worried about how your second semester would be paid, given that they wouldn't be here around the time it needed to be paid. They asked me if I could handle it for them, but I'm guessing you didn't know that, did you?" The question was obviously rhetorical, so I kept my mouth shut. "No, I didn't think so. Otherwise you'd probably have mentioned the fact that you dropped out before your first semester even began!"

The last word was punctuated by the anger in my aunt's voice. I took a moment to collect my thoughts before uttering a shaky, "I can explain."

Calla immediately walked over and dropped into a chair right across from me. "I can't wait." She declared, her tone so falsely sweet and dripping with sarcasm that it made me hesitate. "I'm waiting, Noah."

**Emily's POV**

"I can't believe he asked you out." Unsurprisingly, Charlotte's focus was more on my dating life than the actual tour. "Matt hasn't even asked me out yet."

"I'm sure he will." Sera comforted her quickly. "He seems really into you."

"Yeah, well, not into me enough to ask me out, apparently." Charlotte grumbled. I rolled my eyes, trying to listen as Agent St. Jean continued to give us our tour of the headquarters. It was actually a pretty interesting headquarters - Agent DeCook had done a lot with the underground base in the years that he'd been in charge of it, and it was rather impressive. They hadn't shown us the Powerful and New Technology Sector yet though, and it was the part of the facility I was most excited to see. "Seriously, you're so lucky."

"Are you going to wear a dress? Ooh, can I help you pick your outfit?" Kira requested. Kameron sighed and shook his head.

"I should have gone with Ben and Naomi." He muttered under his breath. I smiled sympathetically. The older members of the team, along with Leo, had split off right at the beginning of the tour to discuss some of the things that had been happening in the city, and I'm sure that even boring debriefings sounded better to Kameron than girl talk about an upcoming date.

"Sorry, Kam." I gave him a toothy grin. "And no, Kira, I'm not wearing a dress. Look, we haven't even picked a day for the date yet, so can we focus on the tour instead of what I'm going to wear."

"She's right." Sera agreed. Charlotte sighed.

"Fine. But we're continuing this conversation when we get home." She told her, her voice amusingly stern for the topic of conversation.

"Oh, thank God." Kameron exclaimed as Agent St. Jean led us into a conference room where Miles, Naomi, Leo, and Ben were sitting in front of a screen. Kameron immediately ran to take a seat next to Ben. "They're driving me nuts. Save me."

Miles chuckled in amusement. "Thanks St. Jean, I'll take it over from here." He told his agent. St. Jean looked almost as relieved as Kameron obviously felt and left.

"Alright, since Kameron obviously needs a break," Leo chuckled in amusement before turning serious again, "we should probably go over what we know about our mysterious super villain team, just to make sure everyone's on the same page."

"There are at least seven of them." I said automatically as we all sat down around the table. Miles looked over at me and I shrugged. "I went over the footage after the hostage situation at Davenport Industries."

"We actually know about nine of them." He told me. "But that was smart to go over the footage yourself."

"Nine?" Kameron repeated. Miles nodded and waved his hand at the screen. Nine boxes formed on it, seven of which showed images of the criminals taken from either footage gathered or Naomi's own investigation.

"Obviously, most of you know of Saturn." Ben started. The first of the images grew larger than the rest. "He's a deadly electrokinetic, as powerful as his father, Megahertz. Short Circuit was helping me to find ways to use his power against him, but traditional ways of dealing with electrokinetics don't appear to be working."

"Centium City has been his home for a few years now, so it doesn't surprise me that he's working with the team that appears to be targeting the city."

"Why are they targeting it, anyway?" Charlotte questioned, looking around.

"Without the Elite Force here, they must believe that the city is undefended." Naomi reasoned.

"Yeah, but how would they know? Their first attack was days after everyone left for Venusia. That's too quick for most people to realize that Chase was out of town, let alone that none of the team was still available to help out." Charlotte pointed out.

"It is concerning how quickly they found out about the team's absence. We're looking into ways they could have discerned that so easily." Miles assured her. He waved his hand at the screen. "Saturn was one of the criminals to break into Blizzard Corp. He was helped by these two." Saturn's image shrank, only for two images labelled Venus and Jupiter. The first was of a dark haired woman in a vizor, the other of a dark haired man. "According to audio taken from the scene, their code names, or perhaps even real names, appear to Venus and Jupiter. They were both present at the Blizzard Corp break in as well as the Davenport Industries attack."

"Wait, that symbol on his chest..." Sera frowned, looking at Jupiter. Leo and Miles exchanged looks.

"Do you recognize it?" Leo asked. To my surprise, Sera nodded, a thoughtful look on her face.

"It's Calderan." She revealed. "I don't know what it means - Hapax didn't bother teaching us Calderan symbology since it's a dying language - but it's definitely Calderan."

"Do you think he's from your planet?" Naomi questioned. Sera frowned.

"I don't know. I don't recognize him, but it would make sense."

"I will have St. Jean go over our Calderan files then, see if we've encountered him before. That's good work, Seraphina." Miles told the hybrid hero. She smiled shyly at that.

"Jupiter appears to be one of the more important members of the team, given how much involvement he's had with the previous attacks, but we know he's not in charge." Naomi continued.

"How do we know that?" Kira asked.

"Because he was speaking to someone he called his boss over a comm network when they attacked Davenport Industries." I remembered hearing him when I went over the footage. "That eliminates him, Mars, and the other two guys, Janus and Janus, from being in charge since they were in the room."

"That is correct. We suspect that it is likely Venus, Victoria, or Vulcan who are in charge, as they were the only other members of the team in the building during the Davenport Industries attack." The pictures of Venus and Jupiter shrank, and images of Victoria and Vulcan, taken from the footage from the Davenport Industries attack, increased in size.

Victoria has medium length, dark brown hair underneath her dark vizor (all the criminals appeared to be using the same type of vizor to protect their identities) and wore a sleeveless, black trench coat. Vulcan, on the other hand, only wore black cargo pants and a black t-shirt, along with a pair of black fingerless gloves and his vizor.

"I don't remember seeing Vulcan during the attack." Kameron frowned.

"That's because these two were busy robbing the vault." Leo explained with a sigh. "Victoria broke off towards the end - that's who you two were fighting, Em and Kira."

"Do we know what they took?" Miles looked at him. Leo shook his head.

"We're not sure. They also destroyed numerous items, so we're still figuring out what was taken and what was left in pieces for us." He muttered bitterly. "Calla and I will send you a list once we've got it."

"Victoria's got this whole dark plasma thing and a swarm ability, but do we know what Vulcan can do?" Kira questioned. Miles shook his head.

"We're still very much in the dark about him." He sighed. I frowned, looking at his hidden face. Not knowing what type of threat he posed was dangerous, but a part of me had the feeling that he wasn't the kind of person we wanted to mess with.

**Noah's POV**

Calla leaned forward with her chin resting on her hand, her index finger tapping her cheek impatiently. I fidgeted uncomfortably, not really sure how to explain my thought process, especially when she was so clearly unhappy with me.

"I don't want to be a lawyer." I blurted out before I could stop myself. She didn't answer, but raised her chin up off her hand to acknowledge me. "I just...that's not what I want to do with my life."

"What do you want to do with your life then?" Calla's tone was less sharp now, and the patience in it calmed my nerves a little.

"I..." I sighed, dropping my head. "I don't know."

"You don't know." She repeated calmly. I shook my head.

"I have no idea what I want to do. I don't know what I want to be, or where I want to be in five years. I have absolutely no idea." I admitted. She licked her lips, nodding thoughtfully. "I just know that if I spend the next five years in law school to end up a public defender, I'm going to hate myself in ten years."

"Then why on Earth would you apply to a law school?" Calla demanded incredulously. I hesitated and she groaned. "I swear to God, if the next word out of your mouth is 'Blake', I'm going to lose it."

"She was just so passionate about it!" I defended myself. "I figured...I don't know, that some of that would rub off on me, I guess?"

"I..." Calla looked as if she was trying not to yell, which I appreciated a little. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Noah, if you don't want to be a lawyer, that's alright. It's not for everyone. But did you really think that dropping out was the best solution?"

"I'm not going to lie; I didn't completely think this through." I mumbled. She nodded, eyebrows raised.

"Really?" She hummed sarcastically. She sighed. "Alright, what parts did you think through? Because I sure as hell hope that dropping out and lying about it wasn't the gist of it."

"I just..." I shook my head helplessly. She nodded to herself.

"You're going back to school." She told me sternly. I nodded quickly.

"I will, I plan to." I promised. "I just want to figure out what I want to do first. I don't want to waste Mom and Dad's money, because I do know how lucky I am."

She looked at me, surprised. "Where is the money?" She asked.

"In a bank account. I didn't touch it." I assured her. She nodded thoughtfully.

"So you dropped out because you'd take the time to figure out a major you're passionate about than waste money on a major you'd hate, then proceeded to lie to everyone...mostly everyone," she amended with a sigh, "until you figured it out?"

"I was going to tell you the moment I had a real plan." I told her. She nodded again, and I could see the wheels in her head turning. "How much trouble am I in?"

"A lot less than you would have been if you'd spent the money on anything." She replied instantly. She clasped her hands together, then nodded again. "Alright, I'm going to make you a deal."

"Do I have a choice in this?" I asked hesitantly. She shook her head.

"Not really." She replied. I grimaced.

"Alright, let's hear it." I said, trying to be optimistic.

"Well, first of all, you're moving into the penthouse." She decided. "I don't know whose couch you've been sleeping on, though I do have my suspicions, but I'm sure it's not a permanent situation. Besides, I'm sure Kameron would love a roommate."

"Okay." I agreed, knowing that Ben would probably be glad to have me off his couch.

"Secondly, you're going to start working for me at Davenport Industries as my assistant." She continued. "And third, you're going to decide on a new major by time your parents come back."

"I'm going to be your assistant?" I questioned. She nodded.

"If you're not going to be going to school, you might as well use your time productively, and I can give you more hours than the Cluck-Cluck barn will." She reasoned. I nodded, then went to stand up. "I'm not done."

"You're not?" I questioned, turning around. Geez, I knew I was going to be in trouble, but I didn't think she'd keep adding things. She chuckled.

"A deal is normally beneficial to both parties, Noah." She told me, not unkindly, smiling a little. "Now, if you do everything I asked, and prove that this was a mature decision rather than a dumbass one, I'll talk to your parents for you, and I'll tell them that I support your decision."

"To drop out?" I asked. She rolled her eyes.

"Your new major, whatever it is." She explained. She paused. "And honestly, if you can prove that you can maturely decide your future like that, I might talk to them about your bionics too."

"Seriously?" I stared at her.

"Prove you've earned them." She said sharply. I nodded solemnly. "Then we'll see."

I nodded. "Thanks Calla." I told her. She nodded.

"Alright," she sighed dramatically, "now tell me the truth: how much do your cousins know about this?"

I froze. "I plead the fifth." I told her, not wanting to get in the middle of this.

"God damn it Emily." She muttered, placing her face in her hands.

**Charlotte's POV**

"Alright, what do we know about Mars and the Janus guys?" Naomi questioned, leaning forward on her elbows.

"Aside from the fact that Janus is one scary dude?" Ben questioned sarcastically.

"You mean two scary dudes...I think." Kira frowned. Miles nodded.

"It is two guys with the ability to merge together." He paused before continuing. "He shows remarkably similar abilities to a super villain your parents faced about twenty-something years ago, but as he hasn't been seen in all that time, we're waiting on confirmation on that."

"How are we supposed to confirm his identity? He's got a mask." Kameron pointed out.

"Geminus faced him back in the day. She's on an extended assignment in Australia with Surge right now, but once she's done there she's going to come to Centium City to lend us a hand." Leo explained.

"Mars, on the other hand, we know little about. He seems to prefer guns over abilities, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have any powers. Underestimating him would be a mistake."

"Got it." Sera nodded seriously. She looked around. "Who are we missing?"

"Neptune and Discordia." Janus and Mars' pictures shrank, to be replaced by the last two squares on the screen. These two had no picture other than a generic shadow, with the names Neptune and Discordia hovering above them. "Neither of these members of the team have been present at the attacks, which is curious."

"Discordia did warn them that you guys were coming." Leo told us. "I think Neptune was supposed to give another warning as well, but they hadn't heard from him."

"Well, clearly one's better at their job than the other." I joked. "But how did she know we were coming?"

"Media footage of you or, more likely, Aftershock, most likely." Miles explained. "But it does mean you'll have to be more careful to avoid detection."

"Calla and I are working on recon training simulations and practice missions." Leo assured him. "It's our main focus for the next couple of weeks."

"Good. If they don't see us coming, it'll be easier to take them out." Miles nodded in approval.

"It'd be easier to to take them out if we knew who they were." Emily pointed out. Ben nodded in agreement.

"You're right, Emily. And that is one of our main focuses as well. We need to find out everything we can about them to learn their weaknesses."

"And why they're doing what they're doing. We need to figure out their endgame." Naomi added.

"Easy as pie." Kameron commented sarcastically, leaning back in his chair. He looked around at us. "What could go wrong?"


	8. All Hallow's Eve

**Kira's POV**

"So, the point is to scare people, and then give them candy?" Seraphina asked, frowning as she handed Noah a fake bat to hang above the big window.

"Yes." Kameron and I both said at once, looking up from the bowls in front of us. Ben chuckled and shook his head as he and Charlotte finished putting decorations around the living room.

"What are you guys even making?" Charlotte laughed.

"Fake blood." I replied, dragging my spoon through the thick liquid. "Mom taught us her recipe."

"Gross." Sera commented, wrinkling her nose. Noah smirked and looked down at her from where he was still standing on the ladder.

"Halloween's really just an excuse to dress up, eat junk food, and celebrate what is supposed to be the creepiest night of the year." He explained, just as his Davenwatch started going off. He looked over at Ben. "Hey, what time is the party tonight anyway?"

"In a couple of hours. Are you sure you don't want to grab dinner with Naomi and I?" Ben offered. Noah shook his head.

"Nah. Blake wants to meet up first, says she wants to talk about something."

"Maybe it has something to do with you dropping out of school." Charlotte muttered under her breath. Noah gave her a look. "Look, Calla may have cut you some slack, but you do realize your mom and dad are going to murder you when they get back, right?"

"I'm pretty sure that's why she cut him some slack." Kameron joked. Noah rolled his eyes, scowling as he went back to the decorations.

"Guys, lay off." Ben told everyone. Noah flashed him a grateful smile. Ben checked the time on his Davenwatch, then sighed and walked over to the stairs. "Naomi!" He called. "You guys done yet?"

"Perfection takes patience!" The journalism student shouted back.

"Only when it comes to Emily." Kameron joked. Charlotte gave him a look.

"Be nice." She told him. He shook his head and went back to making his mixture. "And no playing pranks on her tonight. This date is important to her."

"Relax, Char, this is for Matt's party." He assured her, grinning. "It's going to be awesome."

"I can't believe he invited you guys. Kameron, you don't even like him. Why are you going?" Charlotte questioned, peeved. She'd been so excited until she'd found out that she wasn't the only one invited.

"He invited Sera, Ava, and Aaron too." I pointed out before Kameron could try to come up with an answer. I knew he was only going because Charlotte was, but the bionic girl didn't seem to realize that herself. "And it's better than sitting around at home doing nothing."

"Right. There'd be no one here to prank except Helix and Josh." Kameron added. Josh's cage was out, the tarantula slowly making his way from one end to the other, while Helix was currently gnawing away at a bone, a black witch's hat sitting upon his head. "And that's just not the same."

"Alright." Naomi cleared her throat, coming down the stairs. "We're done."

"What were you guys doing, anyway?" Kameron asked as Emily followed Naomi downstairs. The younger girl was wearing a black tank top and an orange skirt, along with black leggings and boots.

"Working on a project." Emily explained, sitting down on the couch. "Mom's not the only person who invents stuff in their spare time."

"Well, hopefully your stuff will explode less often than Dad says hers did." Noah commented just as Calla walked in.

"I swear, I set his bedroom on fire one time, and he never lets it go." She shook her head. I frowned, noticing that something was wrong - her forehead was furrowed, her lips pressed together in a thin line.

"Hey, by the way, I thought I should ask this now: am I going to have to tell them about the...college thing when we talk later, or can I wait until they get back?" Noah asked, climbing off the ladder. "I don't want to distract them from their mission."

"And you don't want to get in trouble." Emily added teasingly.

"Actually, guys, I wanted to talk to you guys about that." Calla sighed. She moved to sit on the couch, right next to her daughter. The rest of us exchanged looks. She sounded serious.

"What's going on?" Sera asked, standing up from where she'd been kneeling by the decoration box. Calla sighed.

"I know you were all really excited to talk to your parents today," she began, and I felt my heart drop. Ever since Calla had confirmed what day Mom, Dad, and the others would be passing through a section where they'd have a strong enough signal to handle a video call, we'd all been counting down the days.

"We're not going to be able to talk to them, are we?" Kameron asked sadly, his shoulders slumped. Calla shook her head, an apologetic look on her face.

"We can't make contact." She apologized. "There have been bad solar flares lately that are most likely causing the disruption."

"Most likely." Emily repeated, staring at her. Calla nodded and petted the back of Emily's hair.

"There could be a million reasons for the disruption, but that's the most likely cause. Regardless, your parents are okay, I promise. But we just can't reach them today. I'm so sorry guys."

Well, that just ruined the rest of my day. I sank back in my chair, dissapointed. "When's the next check-in?" Even Noah, who'd been dreading that conversation, seemed upset by the news.

"Exactly 54 days from now." Calla answered.

"That's Christmas Eve." Kameron realized. Charlotte looked at him, a little surprised that he did the math before her, but smiled a little.

"I mean, that'll be a nice Christmas gift." She offered lightly.

"She's got a point." Sera said slowly, as if she wasn't sure if she completely agreed.

"I guess." "Fine." "Okay." Emily, Noah, and Kameron all agreed reluctantly. I just shrugged. That certainly did put a damper on today. Hopefully, Matt's party would be a good enough distraction to salvage some of the holiday.

**Emily's POV**

I buried my face in my hands, wishing that it was tomorrow already. Today was supposed to be great. Charlotte, Ava, and I had all sent in our college applications this morning, all three of us hoping to get early acceptance to our choice colleges. I was supposed to be able to talk to my Dad, tell him about everything that was going on and reassure myself that everything was going alright on my end. Then I was supposed to end the night with a perfect date. But now, I couldn't talk to my dad until  _Christmas_ , Charlotte had made the mistake of reminding me that SATs were coming up, which only stressed me out further, and now, to top it all off, I was being stood up.

I checked the time on my Davenwatch again, frowning at the time. Alright, he was nearly twenty minutes late. I wasn't going to wait forever. He could figure out how to make this up to me on Monday-

"I'm an ass, I'm so sorry." Almost as if on queue, he came up just then, apologies falling from his lips. "I got on the wrong bus, and then couldn't figure my way back here, and do you hate me?"

"Well, I'm not thril-what the hell happened?" It was only when I looked up did I notice the darkening bruise around his right eye. I stood up immedietly to get a better look. "Darius, what happened?"

"It's fine, it's nothing." He waved me off.

"That doesn't look like nothing." I insisted, looking at it. "What happened?"

"It was an accident. Don't worry about it." He assured me. I crossed my arms and gave him a look. He chuckled. "Seriously, Em. Matt and I were playing basketball, I wasn't paying attention, and he didn't realize that until after he threw the ball."

"You got this playing basketball?" I repeated. He nodded, smiling at me reassuringly. I bit my lip, not quite sure how believable that was, but then again... "You're an idiot."

"Thank you. Does that mean you forgive me for being late?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at me. I sighed.

"I guess." I replied, shaking my head. "Let's just go."

"...Alright." Darius frowned, but didn't argue with me. He didn't say much as we entered the restaurant, not even while we were choosing our meals. I didn't mind, barely really focusing anyway. "Emily?"

"Hmm?" I looked up to see him watching me. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"Uh, yeah." He gave me this amused look. "I asked if you were okay?"

"I'm fine." I said quickly.

"You're a thousand miles away." He pointed out. I glanced down at my menu for a second. "I'm really sorry for being late."

"I'm not mad about that." I assured him quickly. "I just...I'm sorry. I've got a lot on my mind."

"Talk to me." He gave me an encouraging smile.

"It's my dad. I was supposed to talk to him today." I shrugged. He nodded.

"Right, he's still on that trip." He was quiet for a moment. "You said you were 'supposed to' talk to him today? What happened?"

"He can't be reached. It's complicated." I shrugged. He nodded.

"I'm really sorry, Emily." He told me seriously. I shook my head.

"It's not like it's your fault." I reasoned, sitting up. "Sorry. You'll have my full attention for the rest of the night."

"If you aren't feeling up to this, we can reschedule. I'd understand." He said slowly. I began to shake my head, but he stopped me. "I mean it. I won't be mad or anything."

"It's fine. I wanna be here." I smiled at him. He hesitated.

"You sure?" He checked. I smirked.

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Darius." I teased him. He chuckled.

"Alright, if you insist." He smirked. "So, what are you thinking of getting? I hear they have amazing fish and chips." He commented.

"I don't know. Feeling more in a pasta mood." I commented. "What time is the show, anyway?"

"Eight. We have time." He smiled at me. I smiled back. Maybe tonight was looking up after all.

**Kira's POV**

"Whoa. What is this place?" Kameron commented as Matt and Aaron led us into what looked like an abandoned subway station.

"My mom showed me this place." Ava explained, smirking back at us. "They say it used to be a super-villain lair, back in the day. You know, back when those shapeshifters attacked the city?"

I looked around at the graffitied walls and dirt-covered ground. If it had been a lair, it wasn't a very impressive one, that's for sure. Though, I had to admit, it was creepy, especially with the only light coming from a single, antique gas lantern that Ava had dug up from somewhere. "It's alright." I shrugged.

"I think it's cool." Charlotte smiled prettily at Matt. He grinned slowly at her.

"We should go exploring." He commented.

"No, we shouldn't." Kameron interjected. They both looked over at him, Charlotte particularly annoyed while Matt looked confused. "We could get lost down here." Kameron reasoned. "People get lost down here all the time, and it's not like we have any cell service. We'd never find our way out."

"He's got a point." I agreed, though I knew his reasoning wasn't so innocent. He just didn't want Charlotte and Matt going off on their own.

"Whatever. It's still a cool place for a sleepover." Matt commented, shrugging as he dropped his bag on the ground by the lantern. He leaned over and whispered something in Charlotte's ear, causing her to smile and my brother to scowl.

"So, we have snack right?" I cleared my throat, quickly changing the topic.

"Oh yeah, I have all the good stuff." Ava was just as happy to change the topic, sending Kameron a sympathetic look before opening her bag and beginning to pull things out.

"What are these for?" Sera asked, frowning as Aaron helped his cousin pull a box of crackers and a bag of marshmallows out of the bag.

"I thought we could do smores." Aaron commented. Sera frowned.

"What are smores?" She inquired, confused. Aaron looked at her.

"Smores." He repeated. She continued to frown at him. "Geez, what planet are you from?"

"Uh..." Sera stopped, unsure of how to answer.

"My aunt and uncle aren't big on sugary snacks." I said quickly, as Charlotte and Kameron were too distracted to cover for her.

"In that case, they're the best thing ever." Ava grabbed the box out of Aaron's hands and proceeded to explain to Seraphina how to make a smore and why it should be it's own vital food group. Meanwhile, I grabbed Kameron by the arm and dragged him off to the side.

"Would you play nice?" I scolded quietly. "They didn't have to invite us, but they did."

"It's just...what do you think they're talking about?" Kameron looked past me, where Charlotte and Matt were whispering to themselves.

"That's none of our business. Please, play nice." I begged. He sighed.

"Can't you be on my side for once?" He muttered. I crossed my arms.

"I'm trying, but you being a jerk to Matt isn't going to get Charlotte to like you." I pointed out.

"And you're such an expert on dating?" He questioned. I stopped and looked at him.

"I'm sorry?" I asked, crossing my arms. He closed his eyes for a second.

"Can we forget I said that?" He requested. I didn't answer him, instead fixing him with a cold look and walking over to Sera, Ava, and Aaron. Fine, if he wanted to be a jerk, then he was on his own.

**Xxx**

"Mmmm..." Serasphina hummed in pleasure, licking the last of the marshmallow off her lips. "Oh, I wish I'd discovered these sooner."

I laughed a little and offered her a piece of paper towel to clean off her hands. "We'll make sure that you're stocked up on graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate when you head back to Caldera." I assured her, keeping my voice low. Ava was asleep by what remained of the fire she'd started (well, I helped her out a little when she wasn't looking, but she didn't know that), and I was pretty sure that Aaron was too. Kameron's eyes were closed, but I knew he was still awake, feeling the frustration coming from him. While I was kinda annoyed at him, I didn't really blame him; Matt and Charlotte were huddled at the end of the room, the two of them looking like they were planning on sneaking away the moment the rest of us were asleep.

"Is it weird that I don't want to go back?" Seraphina confided in me. I looked at her, surprised. "I mean, I love Caldera, and my home. It's...well, it's my home, and I miss it, and Mom and Dad especially, but..." She shrugged. "Earth's nice too. And I'm going to miss you guys."

"Even Emily?" I teased. She laughed quietly. "We'll miss you too." I told her kindly. "But that's still months away. And maybe, now that we're all friends, we can convince my parents and your parents to let us hang more. I'd love to visit Caldera sometime."

"You should. The sunsets alone...they put this world to shame." She teased.

"Are they better than smores?" I asked jokingly. But before she could respond, a sharp bang hit our ears. We both turned towards the station's entrance, but there was no one there.

"You guys heard that, right?" I sat up, looking back at them.

"Heard what?" Charlotte called. Ava raised her head, frowning.

"What's going on?" She asked, looking around. Kameron sat up as well.

"We didn't hear anything." He told us, but he didn't sound like he didn't believe us. "What did you guys hear?"

"I'm not sure. It was like-" And all at once, the embers of the fire went cold and the lantern went out, leaving us in complete darkness. Then, not even a second later, something roughly pulled me to my feet, throwing me backwards.

**Darius' POV**

"Ouch." Emily winced sympathetically as General MacArthur dropped, having a rock dropped on his head from above. "Do you think they're using plastic or Styrofoam from the prop, I wonder?"

"Gotta be Styrofoam." I whispered back, quiet enough not to bother any of the other people watching the play. "It would have made a louder noise if it were plastic, right?"

"Maybe." She agreed absently, reaching to grab another piece of licorice from the pile. "This was such a good idea."

"Well, who could pass up 'And Then There Were None' in the park on Halloween?" I asked, silencing my phone as it vibrated again. "You seen it before?"

"No, but I read the e-book. I doubt they'll change the ending." She commented. I chuckled.

"Have you ever read a book that wasn't digital or on your holo-computer?" I asked, shaking my head. She looked at me, bemused.

"As opposed to what?" She asked. I shook my head, trying not to laugh at her.

"Nevermind." I had to admit, it was actually kinda amusing how technology-focused Emily was. Most people preferred the more advanced stuff, but in her case, it was like the idea of using the older stuff had never occurred to her at all. It was actually pretty cute, actually.

"Who keeps texting you?" Emily asked as my phone went off again. I sighed, quickly dismissing the text.

"My mom." I admitted, glancing briefly at the list of messages I'd gotten. A couple were from Aaron, but they were mostly Mom, asking me to do a million things I wasn't interested in doing. "Don't worry about it."

"Why's she on your back?" Emily frowned, craning her neck as she reached past me for another piece of licorice.

"Because she's crazy." I said, maybe a little too enthusiastically considering the look that Emily gave me. "She is, trust me."

"Believe me, I think my mom's crazy sometimes too." She assured me.

"Trust me, my mom's a different type of crazy." I commented, reading over some of the texts before pocketing my phone. "Just forget her. Tonight's just about us, not our psychotic parents."

She smiled, seemingly liking the sound of that. "Okay." She agreed, leaning closer to me as she turned her attention back to the play. I smiled back, wrapping my arm around her, wishing that we could have a lot more time that was just about us, and not about my mom, or her parents, or any of the other crazy shit happening in our lives.

**Kira's POV**

Three minutes ago, Seraphina and I were chatting about smores and Caldera, and now, something was attacking us in the dark. Not a great way to end the night.

Whatever was attacking me was different than most anything I'd ever fought before, even the few times I'd used the training simulator back at the HQ (sometimes Nyssa, Kameron, and I would get in a round or two before the Scarlet Ace or Spotlight found us and kicked us out). It was like I was being hit from all sides, small little blows not powerful enough to maim or badly injure, but definitely enough to leave bruises. The only ever time I'd fought something like this was...

I waved my hand into the air, creating ball of fire in it as I did. As expected, I could see the swarm's bugs (small little things, almost like flies the size of golf balls) move away from the fire. "Davenport Industries!" I exclaimed, crossing one hand over the other to shoot two streams of fire at the swarm. Was this the same woman who Emily and I had fought a few weeks ago when Calla, Leo, AJ, and the rest of the people at Davenport Industries were taken hostage?

Unfortunately, instead of completely scaring off the swarm, it came back with a vengeance, this time the entire swarm charging at my legs. The combined blow of all of them was more than enough to knock me off my feet and I hit the dirt, face first. I felt the air rush from my lungs and I laid there, stunned for a moment.

I could hear the others moving around, fighting as well, but unlike me, they didn't have the ability to create torches with their hands. They were trapped in the dark, fighting for what could be their lives. I couldn't hear Ava and Aaron anymore - I think one of them screamed when the lights first went out, but since then, it was eerily silent on their end.

I couldn't hear Seraphina, but I could feel the chill of her ice powers coming from my left. I would have expected to hear whoever she was fighting - you know, a groan of pain, or at least one scream - but if there was anything to be heard, I couldn't make it out over the overwhelming sound of the buzzing.

Before I could continue to contemplate where the rest might be, or how they were faring in their own fights, a hand grabbed me by my jacket and pulled me to my feet. I pushed away from whoever it was, spinning around in an effort to see who it was, but the swarm was back before I could. I raised my hand and shot blindly in the direction I'd been pulled in, only to just barely miss setting my brother's hair on fire.

"Kira!" Kameron exclaimed, ducking a little and shooting a quick shot of electricity just past me at the swarm. It parted to let the electricity through, not quite giving it the same berth it gave my fire, but still giving it a fair bit of room to avoid being hit. "Geez!"

"Sorry, can't see!" I exclaimed, turning around to send a wave a flames towards the swarm, while at the same time backing up so that Kameron and my backs were almost touching. "Can you?"

"See? No!" Kameron exclaimed, ducking as a part of the swarm broke off to target his head. I felt him twist behind me, and then there was a flash of light as he tried to hit the swarm. "There's two of them!"

"Are you sure?" I called back. It made sense - the swarm surrounding us felt too big to be one entity, but what were the odds that there were two of them with the same powers?

"Definitely!" He called back. Suddenly, a scream, partially muffled broke out from the darkness. "Charlotte!"

Kameron went to turn in the direction of the scream, and then suddenly he was gone, flying backwards with a shout of his own. "Kam!" I called, waving a flaming fist in his direction. All I could see was a dark figure on top of my brother, who was face down on the ground. "Kam!"

He struggled with the figure for a moment, his position on his stomach making it harder to get at him, but managed to push the guy off of him. He turned to go after the guy, and I shot a stream of fire in their direction, hoping that maybe, with enough light, we could identify at least one of the attackers with something more than 'guy with a visor', but the second I tried to, one of the swarms hit me from the side, knocking me to the ground.

I turned to try and deal with it, feeling more than a little overwhelmed by the constant attacks, but suddenly, the swarm in front of me froze. Literally, it quickly began to crystalize, becoming a frozen statue in seconds. I could barely make out Seraphina's figure behind her.

"Sera?" I called.

"I can't see, at all." She responded back, voice barely holding back a tremor of panic.

"It's alright, I'm here." I assured her, slowly getting to my feet. Suddenly, a chill came over me and I realized that it was quiet, too quiet. "Where are the other swarms?"

Sera paused. "Charlotte? Kameron? Aaron, Matt? Ava?"

Suddenly, the figure from before burst out of the darkness. I felt myself elbowed roughly to the ground, and heard a loud shattering sound coming from the direction I'd been facing. I heard Sera cry out in surprise, then, once again, silence.

"Guys?" I called, about to create a smile fire in my hand. I was beaten to the punch by Ava, who suddenly appeared, holding a flashlight. She looked a little disheveled, but overall okay. She shone it around the room, revealing the shattered remains of the frozen swarm. The swarm itself was gone, as were the other two and the shadowy figure, leaving the rest of us in the room.

"Is everyone okay?" Charlotte stumbled forward, rubbing her throat with a wince on her face. Sera was on her bottom, hands behind her, blinking in surprise, while Matt and Aaron came up behind her. Both boys, especially Matt, looked bruised and battered. "Kameron?"

I looked behind me to see Kameron gingerly sitting up, clutching his upper shoulder. "Kam?" I asked, crawling over to him. I could feel heat radiating from where he was clutching. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He muttered as I carefully pulled his hand back. It came away bloody, and I saw a large, but shallow looking gash in his shoulder. "I cut it when I fell. I'm fine."

"It might need stitches." I commented absently, looking it over. Out of the two of us, Kameron was better when it came to medical stuff - he'd helped Mom out a few times in the infirmary on bad days - but it didn't look too bad to me.

"Are you two okay?" Matt asked, looking around at Sera and Charlotte.

"Yeah." Charlotte was still rubbing her throat, which was concerning, but she forced a smile for her crush. Aaron, meanwhile, was staring at the ice shards on the ground.

"How did it freeze?" He asked, sounding confused. We all exchanged looks, trying to think of a way to explain that part.

"Climate change." Kameron said after a moment, his tone unusually serious. I looked over at him, an incredulous look on my face, and he gave me a one-shouldered shrugged before wincing in a way that told me he regretted the action.

**Emily's POV**

"You know, we could take a walk around the park." I suggested, holding Darius' hand as the park started to clear out. I looked up at him, smiling. "I know you said something about the ice cream parlor, but I was kinda hoping to go somewhere less crowded? It's going to be packed, what with their Halloween special."

"Actually, I was kinda set on that ice cream parlor." Darius shifted uncomfortably. "We could go to that party on 8th street though, if you prefer."

"Well, I was kinda hoping to go somewhere, just the two of us." I insisted, stopping to dismiss a call from Charlotte that was coming in. I'd see her after I got home and update her on how things went. Darius looked hesitant, so I put on my best puppy dog look. "What? Are you afraid to be alone with me?"

He hesitated, then looked around. "Emily, listen-" He began, just as my Davenwatch went off again. I sighed, noticing that it was Charlotte again.

"I'm sorry, this is the third time in an hour. I'll make it quick." I told him apologetically, hitting a button on my Davenwatch. "This had better be goo-"

 _"We were attacked."_ Charlotte's voice, urgent and unusually serious for her, spoke into my ear through the bluetooth pieces in my earrings.

"What?" I demanded. I looked up, realizing that Darius was right there. "Just give me a second." I told him, stepping away so he couldn't hear me. "What happened? Is anyone hurt?"

 _"It's a long story, I just wanted to make sure you were aware. You don't have to come home or anything, but I didn't want you in the dark, especially if one of you hear from Aaron, Matt, or Ava."_ She told me quickly.

"Is anyone hurt?" I repeated my earlier question.

 _"Kameron, but it's not bad, barely any stitches."_ Charlotte was quick to assure me. I cursed under my breath.

"Where are you?" I asked.

 _"Emily-"_ She began, but I wasn't hearing it.

"Where are you?" I demanded. She sighed on the other line.

 _"Mighty Med."_  She replied. I nodded to myself, calculating the bus route in my head.

"I'll be there in twenty minutes." I hung up before she could argue with me. I turned around to face Darius, who was texting on his phone. "I am so sorry, I have to go."

"Okay." He nodded in agreement. "Uh, tonight was..."

"It was great, I swear it was." I promised him, not wanting him to think I was bailing out because I didn't enjoy myself. "I am so sorry about this."

"It's fine, Em. Whatever it is, it's important." He assured me. I nodded, then stepped up to kiss him on the cheek.

"I am so sorry." I apologized. "Tonight was great. Can we talk on Monday?"

"Yeah, of course." He replied. I nodded, starting to leave. "Hey, Emily?"

I paused. "Yeah?" I asked, turning around. He gave me a kind smile.

"I had fun tonight." He told me.

"Me too." I smiled back at him, blushing.

**Kira's POV**

True to her word, Emily arrived almost exactly twenty minutes later, looking panicked for a long moment until her gaze rested on the ground of up, all gathered around a hospital gurney. "Are you okay?" She demanded, looking at Kameron. He itched self-consciously at his wrapped shoulder.

"It was, like, three stitches." He assured her. "You didn't have to leave your date. I told Charlotte to tell you not to."

"Yeah, well I'm told I don't listen very well." Emily retorted.

"I think that's the closest you've ever come to admitting you have flaws." Charlotte commented, giving her cousin a look. Emily rolled her eyes.

"Shh, I'm perfect. Not listening well is a choice, not a flaw." She insisted, much to the other's amusement. Emily looked over Kameron herself, then turned to Sera, Charlotte, and I. "Are you guys okay? What about Ava, Aaron, and Matt?"

"I thought you didn't like Matt." Ben commented. She shrugged.

"I don't, but I'd feel bad about going out with his best friend if he was lying dead in a ditch somewhere." She reasoned.

"Actually, it was a subway station." I commented. The look Emily gave me, a mixture of horror and surprise, was hilarious. "I'm kidding. He's fine, so are Ava and Aaron. They're a little confused, but aside from that, Kam was the only one hurt."

"Okay." She nodded to herself before sitting down between Ben and Noah. "So what happened?"

"Swarms, three of them, and another attacker not in a swarm form attacked us while we were on our sleepover. One of them tried to kidnap Charlotte." Seraphina explained. Emily's head snapped in Charlotte's direction.

"He tried to pull me away from the others. Relax, I threw him away from me really hard. I'm pretty sure he hit something." She assured her.

"And I'm pretty sure that something was me." Kameron added flippantly. Adrenaline was still pumping in all of our veins right now. Once it disappeared and shock settled in, I was sure we would all take tonight a little more seriously.

"What did we tell the others?" Emily asked.

"That freaks like that were probably responsible for that whole GPS thing a while back." I explained. Ben frowned disapprovingly at me. "What? There are already rumors going around that super villains were responsible, why not use them to our advantage? It's the only explanation that worked."

"I suppose." Ben sighed. Naomi shrugged.

"The best lie does have a speck of truth in it. Let's just hope they don't tell people." She replied.

"And now we're just waiting for Mama and Papa to come pick us up. They don't want us going home on our own." Charlotte finished. Emily nodded.

"Okay, yeah. I'm glad you guys are okay." She told us. I nodded.

"Us too." I agreed. I smirked, thinking of something that would get our minds off that disaster. "So, how was your date with Darius?"

"Did you kiss?" Kameron teased, picking up on where I was going with this. I sent him a smile as Emily groaned in annoyance.

**Darius' POV**

By time I walked through the door, everyone else was home, loudly arguing about tonight. I'd gotten a few of the details via text, so I already knew what had happened, but it still wasn't something I'd looked forward to coming home to.

"Well, you should have tried harder!" I heard someone shout upstairs. The response that came was both very creative and very rude, making me chuckle as I walked into the kitchen.

"Something funny?" Victoria questioned. She and my mom were sitting at the counter, looking over plans.

"No." I said quickly, wiping the smirk from my face. "No m'am."

"I didn't think so." She turned back to my mom. Breathing a sigh of relief, I went to the fridge, looking for something to drink. "Grabbing one of the kids is a mistake. We should take them all at once."

"That won't work." I commented, grabbing a carton of chocolate milk out of the fridge. I noticed it had the letter A written on it, but I ignored it - if she wanted more, she could buy some herself rather than taking from my place. "Tonight should have shown you that."

"Is that so?" She turned to me. Mom sighed, rubbing her eyes.

"Reese..." She warned, but we both ignored her.

"I heard it was a bit chilly for you. Might want to watch out for Miss Storm." I chuckled. Victoria stood up, trying to intimidate me.

"At least I'm pulling my weight, kid." She told me before turning to leave. "We'll talk tomorrow, Venus."

"Good night." Mom told her as she walked out. Mom turned to me. "Was that necessary?"

"It's not my fault she had a bad plan." I commented, drinking from the carton. Mom frowned at the sight, but didn't call me out on it.

"You shouldn't be talking - what happened with Emily?" She asked. I sighed.

"I couldn't get her alone. Not my fault." I said quickly.

"It never is, is it?" She asked, sounding annoyed. I licked my lips worriedly, knowing I was walking a thin line. "She's right, Darius, it's time you pull your weight. The others are, even Discordia."

She shook her head and started to leave. "Do we have anything to do with them not being able to contact the Elite Force?" I called after her, causing her to stop at the stairs.

"Excuse me?" She asked, hand on the railing.

I sighed and looked away. "Look, if you want me to lie to her, at least tell me what I'm lying about. Them not being able to contact their parents, that can't be a coincidence." I commented. Mom looked at me for a second.

"That's not our doing." She replied. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding and nodded to myself. "I'm serious. You know who your target is, start thinking of her like one. Start doing your part, or I'll pull you out of the job. Am I understood, Neptune?"

I swallowed, then slowly nodded. "Yes Mom, I understand."

**Xxx**


	9. House Guests

**Kameron's POV**

"Morning." Noah greeted, as I walked out of the bathroom, steaming pouring out from the room behind me.

"Morning." I greeted, walking past him to our dresser, looking for a clean shirt. "Where're you off to so early? It's a Saturday."

"I got stuck with a weekend shift in the warehouse." He sighed, sitting on his bed and ruffling around the covers, looking for something.

"You know she did you a favor, right? My parents would have murdered me if I'd done what you had." I commented. He cocked his head to the side a little.

"Yeah, well mine probably still will, even if she vouches for me." He grumbled. He paused and glanced at me. "I am grateful, I just hate working weekends."

"Fair enough." I agreed, finally finding a shirt I liked. As I pulled it over my head, I heard him sigh irritably.

"Have you seen my Davenwatch? I must have dropped it." He commented. I shrugged, then opened another drawer to grab a pair of socks. As I did, I spotted his Davenwatch sitting on the ground by my bed.

"Found it." I called, bending down to grab it. As I did, I accidentally hit a button on its side, activating the holoscreen. It was still locked, but I could see that there was a message from Blake waiting for him. "Blake messaged you."

"Awesome." He commented sarcastically, taking the watch from me and strapping it on without looking at the message. I frowned.

"Everything cool with you two?" I asked, concerned. He sighed.

"She busted me for lying to her about going to the gym last week, and we had a fight." He explained.

"Where were you?" I asked, confused as to why he would lie to his girlfriend. He didn't seem the type to cheat on her or anything, or to deceive her on purpose.

"It was that mission for Calla, the one with the dude who thought it would be a great idea to break into a tech store while drunk." He explained. "But I couldn't exactly tell her that, now could I?"

"Right, she's not supposed to know about your bionics." I remembered. He nodded.

"I get why Calla and Leo have a rule about it - I've heard my Dad's stories about how much danger he and Calla were put in when they were growing up because they were dating bionic superhumans. I don't want to put Blake at risk like that, but I don't know how long I can keep on lying to her about it."

"What are you going to do?" I asked, turning to lean against the dress. He shook his head.

"I have absolutely no idea." He admitted. He sighed. "Look, I have to go, or I'm going to be late."

"Good luck." I commented. He chuckled and started for the door but stopped at the last second.

"By the way, there's some girl downstairs, says she knows you and Kira?" He shrugged. "Whatever. Charlotte and Sera were chatting with her."

I frowned, mildly confused, then followed him downstairs. Sure enough, sitting on the couch between Seraphina and Charlotte was a tall girl with midnight blue hair. She was in the midst of telling them a story, so absorbed in it that she didn't notice me come downstairs, nor Kira standing at the base of the stairs with a face akin to that of someone who had just smelt a dead skunk.

"...and then I handcuffed him to a pole. He looked so pissed off, being taken down by a teenager the way he was." Nyssa was saying, very proud of herself.

"I can't believe you took down Crimson Demon on your first mission." Seraphina told her, grinning widely.

"So, guess who started her training early?" Kira muttered under her breath, glancing sideways at me.

"Nyssa, it's good to see you." I called loudly, getting the other girl's attention and purposefully ignoring my sister's frustrated tone - the two of them had been competing with each other for as long as I'd known them, and I wasn't about to get in the middle of it now.

"Hey Kameron, Kira. I didn't see you guys there." She greeted with a grin just as Emily started down the stairs. The girl genius stopped short on the stairs, confused. "Hi, I'm Nyssa Bennett."

Emily blinked at her for a moment, then turned slightly and called up the stairs, "Mom! You promised you'd stop taking in kids I don't know!"

**Ben's POV**

I looked around uncomfortably, feeling a little out of place in the bar Naomi had told me to meet her at. It wasn't the type of place I usually frequented - there was a much nicer place uptown whose customers didn't look like they'd just escaped from Nightstone Correctional.

For a moment, I'd hoped that I'd gotten the wrong address, but then I spotted Naomi sitting at the bar, dressed in dark jeans, a leather jacket, and a sparkly gold shirt Bree had gotten her for her birthday and her hair pulled into a tight ponytail. "What are we doing here?" I hissed, sitting down beside her. She looked me over, then sighed.

"That's what you wore?" She muttered. I glanced down at my black button-up shirt and jeans.

"What's wrong with it? You told me to wear dark colors." I commented. She rolled her eyes, then immediately began messing with my collar so that the shirt was a bit more open. "What are we doing here?"

"I'm working on a story." She said. I raised my eyebrows at that.

"Here?" I questioned. She rolled her eyes.

"Chill out a bit, Benji. It's important. Someone's been selling high tech weapons on the black market." She explained, removing her hands from my shirt collar once she was satisfied and turning back to the bartender. "Hi, can my friend get a Sazerac, and can I get another Whiskey Sour? Thanks." She turned back to me. "What was I saying?"

"How much have you had to drink?" I asked, watching the bartender make our drinks.

"Just the one. It looks a little weird if you're at a bar in the middle of the afternoon and you don't order something." She told me.

"It looks weird to be a bar in the middle of an afternoon." I pointed out. "Wait, did you say high tech weaponry?"

"Yes, I did. And what tech companies do we know of that have had their tech stolen lately?" She asked, smiling proudly. "Look, if we can catch the guy selling it, Calla gets to know who stole her tech and I can crack one of the best stories of my career. It's win-win."

"Unless we get killed doing it. You know nothing about the guy selling the stuff." I pointed out. She nodded.

"Which is why I called my nearly indestructible best friend. It'll be fine." She assured me. "Look, I'm meeting one of the seller's middlemen here in about ten minutes. Are you in or are you out?"

I sighed. "I really don't have much of a choice, do I?"

She smiled and shook her head. "And that," she told me, "is why I love you."

**Seraphina's POV**

"Hey guys." Calla greeted as she walked into Mission Command. Shortly behind her was Alivia McLean, an old friend of my mom and dad's as well as the current leader of the New League of Heroes. "I see everyone's getting acquainted."

I glanced over at Nyssa, who was sitting on the ground next to Emily, scratching behind Helix's ears. After explaining that no, Calla hadn't agreed to take in another kid and that she had just come to visit while Alivia was in town for business with Calla and Director DeCook, the two of them had started getting along fairly well. Nyssa was pretty cool, and, having just started her training as her father's superhero sidekick, she had the most interesting stories. The only one who wasn't excited to see her was Kira, who was being uncharacteristically cold to the other girl.

"Why'd you want us all to come down here? I thought you had a meeting?" Charlotte asked, tilting her head as she turned to Calla. Calla nodded.

"We did, and we resolved it early. Geminus?" She stepped back, allowing the Irish superhero to take the floor.

"So, for those of you who were wondering, our meeting was regarding the new group of villains that have popped up in the city. Specifically, Janus." She waved her hand and MISS projected an image of the two identical super villains in front of us. "Tell me, what do all of you know about the super villain Catastrophe?"

Before any of the rest of us could answer - though most of us probably couldn't - Nyssa's hand shot into the air. "He is one of the most powerful super villains in the world. So powerful, in fact, that Caduceo had to split him into two souls, only able to be reunited through the use of the Dyad of Nebulon."

"But the Dyad was destroyed back in early 2016. So, he's dead." Kira added quickly. Alivia nodded.

"That is what we thought." She agreed. "However, it seems that he somehow survived."

"How?" Emily asked, looking up in confusion. "If the Dyad was the trigger for his powers, and it's gone, how can he still be a problem today?"

"We always suspected that Wallace and Clyde, the beings that Horace split them into, survived without their powers." Alivia began, leaning against the cyber computer. "We believe that they may have found an alternative way of accessing their abilities, without using the Dyad."

"What sort of alternative way?" Charlotte asked, raising her hand a little. Alivia smiled a little at the gesture.

"It's possible that they found a way to reverse Horace's abilities, or perhaps used magic to sever their connection to the Dyad." She explained. Emily made a face.

"Magic isn't real though." She commented. Nyssa looked over at her, confused.

"What do you mean?" She asked. Emily raised an eyebrow.

"Well, magic is just science we don't yet understand..." She trailed off. Nyssa, to my surprise, wasn't offended.

"Can your science explain this?" She asked, raising her hand and held it over the bone that Helix was gnawing on.  _"Fac os maior."_

The bone started to grow until it was twice its original size. Helix stopped chewing on it for a moment, then, now wagging his tail excitedly, dug into it with new vigor. Emily stared at it for a second, then, in a slightly frightened and confused tone, "Mom...?"

"I know, honey." Calla sighed, shaking her head. "I know."

"Anyway," Alivia chuckled a little at Emily's reaction to Nyssa's actions, "we don't know exactly how he's back, but the important thing is that he is. And you need to be prepared to fight him."

"But, Alivia? Wasn't Catastrophe beaten by Alan? He can't be that powerful is he was beaten by Alan, right?" Kira asked.

Alivia's expression darkened. "Alan is a fully capable hero, Kira." She chided.

"Who wears sweater vests." Kira finished. "Yeah, he's strong and stuff, but what kind of superhero wears sweater vests?"

"Alan does." Alivia sighed. I bit my lip – from what I'd been told, Alan wasn't exactly the friendliest member of the New League of Heroes. But while Kira had told me about how his reputation amongst the younger heroes ranged from people generally disliking him to questioning his competency as a hero, Kameron had claimed that he wasn't much worse than Nyx, and that so long as you did as you were told, you wouldn't have any problems with either of them. "Anyway, don't underestimate Catastrophe. It does look like whatever it was that brought him back made him weaker, but he is still incredibly powerful."

"How do we beat him?" I asked, looking up at Alivia. She smiled.

"Good question, Seraphina." She encouraged. "Unfortunately, until we discover how he was brought back, it won't be as easy as dropping an artifact into an energy core."

"Damn, there goes my first idea." Charlotte commented sarcastically. Calla cleared her throat loudly and Emily flushed. "I mean, darn."

"Until we figure out his weakness, assume that he can be taken out like any other criminal. His abilities appear to be limited to disintegration and being able to split and combine at will. We're going to focus on the second of those today."

"Shouldn't we be focusing on the first? You know, so we don't die?" Kameron pointed out.

"I've lined all your uniforms with a special material that's proven immune to these types of abilities." Calla said reassuringly. "So long as he doesn't touch your bare skin, you'll be fine. Just be careful to avoid letting him touch your faces, and you should be fine. Kira, I want you to be extra careful to avoid coming into contact with him, as your suit is sleeveless. I can add arms if you want."

"No, I can use my powers better if I don't have fire-proof material in my way." Kira shook her head quickly. "Thanks though. I'll make sure he can't touch me at all."

"Alright. Now, since I have the ability to split, multiply, and combine at will, we're going to have you guys train against me. In teams of two, you'll be trying to take me and my three duplicates down." She explained. "The teams will be...Kameron and Emily, Kira and Seraphina, and Nyssa and Charlotte."

"You and  _three_  duplicates?" Kira repeated, frowning. Alivia nodded.

"If you can beat four of me, then you have a better chance at being able to beat two of him." The red-headed hero reasoned. She put her hands on her hips. "So, who wants to go first?"

**Ben's POV**

"Riley." Naomi and I both looked up as a short, older looking man with a goatee walked up to us. He spoke with a heavy Jersey accent and was dressed fairly nicely for a place like this, like he was actually some kind of legitimate businessman. "It's a pleasure to finally meet in person."

"I agree. This is my boyfriend, Kai." Naomi told him, wrapping her arm around my waist. The man nodded and offered to shake my hand.

"The name's Mort. I hear you're interested in doing business with me and my associates." He greeted. I shook his hand and forced a neutral look on my face.

"It depends on if you have what we're looking for." I replied. He smiled, liking my answer, and gestured towards a nearby table.

"Let's sit, shall we?" He offered. Naomi and I followed him to the table and sat across from him. "Now, Riley told me you were looking into some gear for...protection purposes." He drawled, looking us over.

"We are." I agreed. He narrowed his eyes at me.

"You could buy something like that at any artillery or hunting store." He commented.

"But they don't have what we're looking for." Naomi cut in, smiling flirtatiously at Mort. "We're looking for something a bit more...well, we want to be 'secure', so we're looking for something that could 'protect' us from, say, a bionic attack."

"You planning on pissing off any bionics any time soon?" Mort questioned. She closed her lips tightly and shrugged.

"You never know what might happen." She reasoned lightly. Mort looked her closely for a long time, long enough to make Naomi uncomfortable.

"Do you have something that might be able to do the job, or not?" I asked, feigning impatience. He looked up at me, and his lips twisted into a smirk.

"I might." He admitted. "But I don't think you'll be able to afford it."

"Money's no problem." I assured him. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"And where does a little punk like you get that kind of dough?" He questioned suspiciously. I leaned in close, smirking.

"What's the point in a trust fund if you don't get to spend it on something nice?" I asked back. He leaned back and looked us over once more before nodding to himself.

"Alright. Let me run it by my boss and see what she says." He decided, getting up from the table. He pulled a phone out of his pocket - not a Davenwatch, I noticed immediately, despite them being the number 1 communication device in the US - and stepped away from the table. "I'll be right back."

As soon as he was out of earshot, I turned to Naomi. "Alright, what's the plan? Assuming his boss agrees to sell to us."

"We got to the sale and kick their asses." Naomi reasoned. I looked at her. "Look, we'll get Miles on board for the sting, and we'll have agents ready to storm the place. We just have to get through the rest of this meeting, then we can go talk to him."

"Alright." I agreed reluctantly. I still didn't like this. Something about that Mort guy gave me the creeps, and not just the way he was looking at Naomi. Something about this just felt off, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

**Kameron's POV**

"Well, that could have gone better." Emily muttered half under her breath, glancing at Calla to make sure she wasn't looking before pulling a piece of pepperoni off her pizza and handing it to Helix. The cavapoo gobbled it up quickly, wagging his tail and placing his head in Emily's lap once he was finished.

"It wasn't that bad." Charlotte reasoned. Kira gave her an annoyed look.

"You're the only team that actually beat her. And Nyssa did most of the work." She insisted. Charlotte considered her point for a moment before shrugging and turning her attention back to the movie that was on the TV.

"We didn't do all that bad," Sera tried to placate my sister, "especially considering that none of us have ever trained against someone with her powers."

"Except Nyssa." Kira added, still annoyed.

"Hey, it's not like you didn't start going out in the field early either. You've been fighting Catastrophe." Nyssa made it sound like the greatest thing in the world, his ability to make things and, more importantly, people disintegrate not fazing her in the slightest. I didn't understand how she could be so relaxed about all of it, but Kira was the same way. They both saw the threat as more of an adventure than anything else. They were crazy, in my opinion."

"And you've been fighting..." Kira trailed off, frowning. "Demons?"

"Is that the best you've got?" Emily asked, half joking. Charlotte frowned.

"What has the League been dealing with, anyway?" She asked, glancing at Nyssa before twisting around to look at Alivia. The Irish superhero looked up from her own dinner and realized we were all staring at her expectantly.

"We're still handling all that witchcraft stuff from last year," she began, smirking a little at Emily's expression when she heard the word 'witchcraft', "and a series of global villain outbreaks are our number one concern."

"I got to go to Switzerland a few weeks ago." Nyssa added proudly, smiling smugly. "And before that, Amsterdam."

"Seriously?" Emily grinned, turning to her. "That's awesome."

"What about school?" Kira protested. "Mom and Dad never would have let us skip it for a mission."

"My parents are homeschooling me so I can still do training with the older League members." Nyssa explained.

"I didn't know that was an option!" Kira exclaimed. Alivia chuckled.

"Spotlight and Nyx both have college degrees, and Nyx got hers at fourteen. Your parents, despite being incredible heroes and doctors, are both high school dropouts." She reminded my sister. "They're not quite as qualified to homeschool you, and honestly, neither one of them were ever that attentive in class anyway."

"I wouldn't want to be home-schooled anyway." I added. Kira sent me a look. "Well, I wouldn't."

"Be on my side, Kam." She scowled at me just as the front door opened and Noah walked in, hands in his pockets.

"Hey Noah, we saved you a few slices." Calla greeted. He shrugged, not looking all that interested.

"I'm not hungry." He mumbled before heading upstairs. Calla frowned.

"You sure?" She called after but received no response. She glanced at Emily and Charlotte, still frowning. "Do you two know what that was about?"

They both shrugged and turned back to Nyssa, who'd begun to tell another story about how she defeated a witch back in Prague.

**Ben's POV**

"Alright." Mort came back to the table after a few minutes, a satisfied grin on his face. "She's agreed to make a deal. Why don't we go see the merchandise?"

"Right now?" Naomi clearly wasn't expecting that. Mort frowned.

"Is that a problem?" He questioned. I glanced at Naomi - we'd been hoping to get back up set up. Without it, it was just the two of us against very possibly the people who broke into Davenport Industries. Those weren't odds I liked.

"We...weren't expecting to buy anything today. We didn't bring the money with us." I lied. Mort nodded thoughtfully.

"You can write us a check." He assured us, gesturing towards the back door of the bar. "I'm parked around back. We can take my car."

"Alright." I said slowly, getting up. I stepped carefully to place myself between Naomi and Mort as we followed him to the back. He didn't know who we were or about my powers, I reminded myself. The moment anything went wrong, I could fly Naomi and I out of there. It would be fine.

That's what I thought until we stepped outside to find that there were already a couple of people waiting for us. A tall thug with brown hair and a skinny woman with straight brown hair were waiting, the latter armed with a large, silver blaster that was unmistakably from Davenport Industries, given the red Borromean ring symbol on the side of it. "Hello there." She greeted. "I take it you must be Naomi."

Naomi stiffened beside me. "How do you know who I am?"

"Because it's not the first time that a Davenport has tried to stop my business, and it probably won't be the last." The woman explained, raising her weapon towards us. "But unfortunately for you, you will be the first to die."

"Not happening." I growled, lunging at the woman. She raised her blaster at me, and a mist spat out of it, forming into a crystallized ball of ice before my eyes and hitting me in the chest. I shrugged it off, feeling the impact but knowing that it wouldn't cut through my skin at all. The tall thug tackled me to the ground before I could reach the woman though, and we both hit the asphalt hard.

I wasn't expecting him to be as strong as he was, I had to admit. I'd rarely fought against anyone who was as strong as me, or stronger like this guy seemed to be - Adam Davenport had given me a few pointers a couple of years back, but that was the extent of my training in terms of fighting someone with super strength.

I couldn't see Naomi from where I was on the ground, but I could hear her shouting at someone, presumably Mort or the woman, and then there was the sound of blaster fire. "Get off me!" I growled at the thug, pushing against him and trying to roll him onto his back, but he wouldn't budge. "Alright, you asked for it." I muttered, raising my hands into his chest. I felt the vibrations rebound into my hands as I simulated an earthquake into the guys chest. He cried out in pain - even though I'd done it with as little strength as possible, it was still incredibly painful and not something I normally liked doing to even villains - and fell to the side, giving me the chance to escape from under him.

"Ben!" Naomi called. I could see her standing over the woman, holding a small blaster in her hands. The woman's stolen blaster was lying on the ground behind Naomi. "Mort got away."

"Where did you get that?" I demanded, staring at the weapon in her hands. She gave me an incredulous look.

"Did you really think I'd come to something like this unarmed? Give me some credit, Benji." She teased.

**Seraphina's POV**

I rubbed my neck as I walked down the stairs. I'd been trying to sleep for a couple of hours now, and just couldn't manage to. I had this big history test on Tuesday, and even though Emily had agreed to help me study the night before (coffee does wonders to convince that girl to do just about anything), I was still worried about it. It was my first big test since coming to Millennium Academy, and of course it had to be on something like history, covering subjects that none of my tutors or even my parents had taught me. Punching things had always been a good way to release stress for me though, so I figured that I would take advantage of the empty Mission Command and work myself to sleep.

Except, when I took the hyperlift down there, it wasn't quite as empty as I'd been expecting. "Noah, what are you doing down here?" I asked, a little startled to find the older boy 'going to town' (as Kira would phrase it) on a punching bag hanging from the ceiling. He was working pretty hard, the back and chest of his muscle shirt soaked with sweat, and didn't acknowledge me as I came in. "Noah?"

"Couldn't sleep." He replied, his voice hoarse as he slammed his fist into the middle of the bag once again. It swung a bit when he impacted with it, and I suspected that he was using some of his super speed to give his punch an extra kick. "Go back to bed, Sera."

"I couldn't sleep either." I frowned, noticing how tense his shoulders were. "Is something wrong?"

"No." He growled, punching it again. I hesitated, concerned. Should his voice have been that rough?

"Are you sure?" I pressed. "You skipped dinner, and Kameron told Kira that you went straight to bed, and now-"

"Blake broke up with me."

I bit my lip, a little surprised by his answer, but not quite as surprised as I'd have thought I would be. We really hadn't seen too much of Blake since I'd been here (Emily had mentioned offhandedly a couple of weeks ago that she used to come by quite a bit, so it seemed like it was unusual behavior) and I'd known they'd been going through a rough patch.

Noah had stopped beating the bag and just stood there, one wrapped hand lying flat against the punching bag. "I kept lying to her, and she's had enough of it, apparently." He continued, his voice growing in speed and emotion as he continued. "I don't blame her, really. I'm lying to her about the bionics and where I'm going, I lied to Calla, Leo, and Katherine, and to my parents and everyone else about school. And even if I wasn't lying, it's not like the truth is any better. She's a law student, top of her class, and I'm a college dropout. Why on Earth would she waste her time on me?"

"I'm so sorry, Noah." I apologized. He shook his head, turning away from me. "But I don't think you dropping out makes you a bad boyfriend. You're trying to figure out what you want - I think that's brave."

"Brave?" He repeated incredulously, glancing over his shoulder at me. I nodded. "Okay, I know Calderans sometimes have different meanings to words than we do, but I think stupid is a better word."

"Wouldn't it be stupid to work for a degree that'll only lead to a job that'll make you miserable? I think it's brave that you're taking a chance to figure out what you want, even if it means taking a risk like dropping out." I reasoned. He looked at me, then chuckled darkly and shook his head.

"I think you're about the only one who sees it that way." He told me. I shrugged.

"It doesn't change what I think." I replied. He just gave me this look, then smiled a little and shook his head. "So, do you want someone to hold the bag you're beating up, or do you want to give me a shot?"

He opened his mouth to reply when the hyperlift lit up again, and Kira suddenly appeared, also wearing her training clothes. She flinched back when she saw us, apparently also having expected to find Mission Command empty. "What are you doing up?"

"Uh..." She trailed off. "What are you doing up?"

Noah hesitated as well, glancing at me. "I have a test coming up that won't let me sleep, so I woke Noah up to be my work out partner. I would have gotten you though if I'd known you were going to be up."

Noah flashed me a grateful smile, then cleared his throat. "You didn't answer our question, Kira."

Kira sighed. "Fine. Nyssa's pissing me off with her better-than-thou attitude, and I want to prove I'm better than her." She replied. "So, I came down here to train."

"How is Nyssa acting like she's better than you?" Noah frowned, confused.

"She..." Kira broke off, making an irritated noise. "She keeps telling these great stories about everything she's done with the League, half of which I guarantee you are exaggerated, and she's acting like she's doing more important work just because she's arrested more people."

"She also did better than the rest of us in training today." I added. Kira nodded.

"Exactly, which is unfair because she's probably sparred with Alivia a hundred times by now." She growled. Noah frowned.

"A hundred seems a little much..." He trailed off, seeing the look on the pyrokinetic's face. "Not that it matters."

"Look, I just...I want to prove to Geminus that even though I'm not training with the League, I'm still a badass." She explained.

"As badass as a fifteen-year-old in a pink 'muscles and mascara' tank top can be." Noah corrected. Kira narrowed her eyes at him.

"I can set you on fire with my mind." She reminded him. He thought about that for a moment, then stepped back from the punching bag.

"How about we find you a way to beat Geminus instead?" He suggested casually. He looked between the two of us. "I don't see me going to bed anytime soon. You up for it?"

"I came down here to train." I agreed instantly. Kira looked between us and smiled.

"Thanks guys." She told us sincerely. She tightened her ponytail, then put her hands on her hips. "Let's get to work."

**Ben's POV**

"Seriously?" Calla sighed dramatically, walking into the holding area at S.H.I.R.T. Naomi and I looked up as she, Alivia, Leo, and Katherine walked in. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Which one of us are you annoyed with?" Naomi asked, frowning. Calla ignored her and turned to the woman we'd arrested.

"You're out of prison for what, a year, and you're already stealing from me?" She demanded, glaring at the woman, who rolled her eyes in return.

"What can I say? I like making money off your shit." She commented back, earning a scowl from Calla.

"I take it you two know each other?" I guessed, looking between the two of them. Leo nodded, standing behind Calla.

"Her name is Carrie Perry. She's Terry Perry's niece." He explained.

"Leo Doody. I remember you." Carrie commented. Leo ignored her.

"She's done time for assault, armed robbery, and basically everything under the sun." He explained. Naomi nodded at the thug I'd fought, who was sitting in the cell beside Carrie.

"And him?" She asked. Katherine sighed and walked over to stand in front of his cell. "He's not talking."

"Talkin' ain't really his thin'." Katherine explained, shaking her head. "'Is name's Tank. He's one o' Krane's bionic soldiers."

"Like you." Alivia confirmed.

"Except he's not as pretty." Leo commented. Katherine cracked a smile at that.

"And he left the Academy to join Sebastian an' Lexi back when the Academy firs' started up." She explained. Alivia nodded thoughtfully, then turned back to us.

"You said on the phone that Mort was there?" She questioned. I nodded.

"I checked the databases while we were waiting; it's definitely Mr. Terror's Mort. He got away though while we were fighting them." I explained. Alivia cocked her head to the side.

"Yeah, he's always been a slippery fellow." She commented thoughtfully. "It does make sense that he'd be working with someone like Carrie though - he's always looked to serve powerful women."

"I appreciate the compliment." Carrie smirked.

"I think you mean psychotic women." Calla commented. Alivia smirked.

"That too." She agreed. Carrie scowled at that and Leo turned to her. "Where'd you get the tech, Carrie? We know you didn't steal it yourself."

"What makes you say that?" Carrie questioned, standing up. "Maybe we are stealing it."

Alivia raised an eyebrow. "How many are in your crew then?" She challenged. Carrie hesitated.

"Five." She replied.

"Wrong. Besides, you're not smart enough to pull it off. Now, where'd you get the tech from?" Alivia demanded. Carrie rolled her eyes.

"Now why would I tell you that? You did just insult my intelligence, after all." She replied, sauntering back to her seat, looking far smugger than she should have been sitting in that cell. Naomi opened her mouth, possibly to threaten the criminal, but Calla beat her to it.

"Because if you don't, I'll tell your aunt exactly what prison we're sending you to. I'm sure she'd love to visit." She drawled. That made Carrie stop.

"Mort got it from an old friend. They ended up stealing more than what they wanted and figured we'd be the easiest way to get rid of it. I didn't question it." She commented.

"What friend?" I asked. She shook her head.

"He didn't say, but they used to work together." She replied. She looked at Calla. "Good enough?"

"For now." The genius hummed. Carrie sighed.

"It was a woman, if that helps." She added. Calla glanced at Alivia, then over at Tank. I wasn't sure what she was thinking, but I could see the wheels turning in her head.

"Kath." Calla said softly, looking meaningfully at the blonde. Katherine looked at her for a moment, then a look of understanding came over her.

"Tank." Katherine turned to the bionic soldier. She knelt down by the bottom of the cell. "Was it Lexi?"

The thug looked at Katherine for a moment, then grunted in agreement. Alivia sighed. "Lexi Krane and Catastrophe. Just who we needed working together."

**Kameron's POV**

"I told you it would work." Kira teased, walking out of the hyperlift.

"Yeah, but we beat Geminus first." Nyssa commented, smirking over her shoulder at the girl. "And you guys have an extra team member. It's not fair."

"Combat usually isn't." Ben commented from where he was sitting on the couch. He sat up and looked at us. "I take it your training with Geminus went well?"

"Yeah, she's just talking to Calla downstairs for a moment." Emily replied, heading for the kitchen. "I'm making popcorn. Anyone want any?"

"Sure." I called after her. Ben looked back at us.

"Seriously, guys. I'm glad you were able to learn something from Geminus; she's a great teacher." Ben's smile faded a bit as he turned more serious. "But combat is rarely fair, and training isn't at all like the real thing. Sometimes you have advantages, like having your friends at your side, but sometimes you're outnumbered four to one. It's not fair, but you've got to be ready for that."

"We know. We understand." Sera assured him. He nodded.

"What's got you in such a grumpy mood?" I asked, dropping onto the couch across from him.

"I'm not in a grumpy mood." Ben frowned.

"Well, you're more serious than usual. More adult-like." Charlotte commented. Ben gave her a look. Noah, on the other hand, smiled a little and leaned on the back of Sera's chair.

"He got his butt kicked by a bionic super soldier." He explained. Ben opened his mouth in protest.

"First of all, I beat him." He insisted.

"Barely." Naomi laughed as she, Alivia, and Calla made their way onto the main floor.

"Thanks Naomi." Ben rolled his eyes. She shook her head and sat down next to him.

"Oh, don't be a baby." She teased him. He rolled his eyes at her and shook his head, not arguing with her about it.

"Nyssa, you ready to go?" Alivia checked. Nyssa nodded, but Sera looked up in surprise.

"You're leaving already?" She asked, a little disappointed. Alivia nodded.

"I'm afraid I'm required back in New York. Next time, we'll try and extend our stay." She promised. Sera nodded, still a little sullen, and Alivia offered her a smile. "If your parents get back before that happens, tell them I expect to see them and you at the League for at least a week before they go back to Caldera with you. It's about time you meet more of the League."

"Okay." Sera smiled eagerly at the idea. Kira and I exchanged looks, smiling a bit too. Sera was a little shy at first, but she was actually kinda cool once you got to know her, and it would be pretty cool to see her working with the League some more. I knew Kira had hoped that we could team up in the future, the three of us. It was nice to see that Sera seemed to be liking the idea as much as the two of us.

 _"Sacculos, huc_." Nyssa called, raising her hand towards the stairs.

"Be careful, and stay safe, you two." Calla told red-headed hero and the witch as Nyssa and Alivia's bags came floating down the stairs. I glanced over my shoulder to see Emily staring disconcertingly at the feat of magic and had to force myself not to laugh out loud at her reaction.

"You too." Alivia told her, tone serious. "If you're dealing with Lexi and Catastrophe, chances are, at least some of the other members of their team are people we've fought before."

"If we beat them once, then we know how to beat them again." Calla assured her. "But I will be looking through our old records, see what we can figure out. Thank you for everything."

"Of course." Alivia nodded and turned to the rest of us. "Alright guys, last bits of advice. Combining your powers together, that's the key to beating multiple people at once. Kira, Emily, and Noah showed that. Work together, figure out which combinations are the most powerful. Don't get too cocky though - I've seen dozens of heroes taken down because they got too far ahead of themselves. Rely on each other, and you should all be fine. Understood?"

"Understood." The rest of replied instantly. Alivia nodded and looked at Kira and I.

"You guys are doing really well. Keep it up, and we'll talk about having you join missions when you come back to New York." She encouraged. Kira beamed.

"Awesome!" She had to stop herself from screaming. I chuckled.

"Thanks, Geminus." I told her appreciatively. She nodded, said her last farewells, and walked out, Nyssa waving goodbye at the rest of us before following her out.

"So," Emily cleared her throat after they left. She was looking at her mom. "Lexi, did she mean... _'Lexi'_  Lexi?"

"Who's Lexi?" I asked, confused. Mom and Dad hadn't mentioned the name before, so I assumed that she had to be someone from Calla and Chase's past from before the Elite Force. Calla sighed.

"Alright, story time, I suppose." She decided, gesturing to the couch. We all moved to sit down on it, as Emily passed around bowls of popcorn. Calla paused for a moment, trying to figure out where to begin. "Alright, so there was this guy on the Academy named Sebastian…"


	10. Camping Trip

**Charlotte's POV**

"It's so big." I whimpered, staring at the massive study booklet sitting on the table in front of me. Maybe it wouldn't have seem so bad if it were a PDF, or a holobook, but no, they had to give us a hard copy just to scare us more.

"It's not that bad." Darius reasoned. "It's only sixty-five pages."

"Sixty-five." Emily repeated, flipping through the pages. "That's kind of a lot."

"Not really." Darius insisted. I gave him a look, then raised my head to look over at the couch, where the others were all gathered. Kameron was nose deep in his biology homework, while Kira was trying to teach Seraphina how to play her new Space Rescue game. Noah was over at the kitchen counter, going through Davenport Industries reports on his holo-computer while making himself a snack.

"Guys, chime in here?" I called. "Is sixty-five a lot?"

"Depends on the context." Noah replied without looking up, just as the front door opened and Mama, Papa, and Calla walked in with groceries. "Sixty-five pages, no. Sixty-five murders, yes."

"Noah." Seraphina looked up and gave him a look.

"I'm sorry, did we just walk into the plotting of a mass murder?" Papa asked, raising an eyebrow at us.

All of us, except for Darius, exchanged looks, and in perfect unison, replied in a far too serious tone, "yes."

"Well, at least they're working together on  _something_." Calla reasoned, heading past us to bring the groceries to the counter. She paused next to Noah, looking over the paper bags in her arms to check over his work. "Nice job, bud."

"Thanks." He replied.

"So, back ta this whole mass murder thin'," Mama commented as Papa took the groceries from her. Noah moved out of the kitchen with his holo-computer, trying to stay out of the way, while Kameron got up to help put things away, "Is it gonna be specific people, or are y'all just choosin' 'em at random?"

"Well, a bit of both, really." Kira shrugged, playing along. "Mostly random, but we might put a few people on there, like Ms. Perry."

"Dear god..." Darius muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. Emily laughed a little and rubbed his shoulder.

"You starting to think that Matt had the right idea of ducking out at the last minute?" She asked.

"You guys are crazy." He replied, even as he offered her a kind smile. Papa raised an eyebrow at him and went to lean on the back of one of the chairs.

"You must be Darius, right?" He inquired. Darius nodded. "So, you're friends with Matt, right?"

"Papa..." I warned. Darius nodded, glancing at me as if he wasn't sure what I wanted him to say.

"Yes, Mr. Dooley, sir." He said. Papa shook his head.

"Leo's fine." He assured him. "Tell me, is Matt a good guy? Like, would you let him date your sister?"

"Uh...I don't have a sister." Darius trailed off, a little caught off guard by the interrogation.

"But if you did, would you let him date her?" Papa pressed. I rolled my eyes and turned around to scowl at him.

"Matt's not even my boyfriend, yet, Papa. Stop interrogating Darius." I demanded.

"I'm just asking him a couple of questions." Papa insisted. "So, where is Matt this evening, anyway?"

"You don't have to answer him." Emily assured him quickly. Darius swallowed a bit.

"He wasn't feeling well, so he went home." He replied uneasily. Papa narrowed his eyes at Emily's boyfriend, not quite believing him, but thankfully, Mama was quick to come to the rescue.

"Leo. Stop." She gave him a stern look, to which Papa rolled his eyes dramatically.

"Yes dear." He sighed, walking away from the table. I shook my head and turned apologetically to Darius, who still looked a little nervous.

"I'm sorry about him. He can be a little overzealous sometimes." I apologized to Darius.

"Heard that." Papa called.

"Good." I replied. Calla laughed a little at that, amused.

"Are you staying for dinner, Darius?" She asked, pulling a box of hamburger patties from the freezer. "I promise we won't let Leo ask you a million questions about Charlotte's love life."

"I..." Emily's face fell at Darius' hesitation. "I shouldn't. I don't want to impose."

"Please, it'd be no imposition. In fact, I insist." Calla smiled warmly at him. He nodded after a moment.

"I...okay. I'll stay. Thank you." He added, almost as an after thought. Emily grinned.

"Alright, who wants cheese on their burgers?" She asked, looking around at us.

**Noah's POV**

"So, how's the studyin' goin'?" Katherine asked, glancing at Darius and the girls as the bowls of coleslaw, salad, and mashed potatoes were being passed around.

"Well, some of us seem to be more into it than others." Emily commented, glancing meaningfully at Charlotte, who responded by sticking her tongue out at our cousin.

"The SATs are hard, okay? And boring. It's hard to stay focused." She pointed out. She glanced at her parents sheepishly. "I'm trying though."

"Which is why it's good that you started studying so early. You guys started a few weeks ago, right?" Leo checked. Charlotte nodded.

"Yes, but they're Friday, Papa. Friday!" She sighed. "I just don't get why they have to do it before Christmas. Why not get them done after the break?" She complained.

"It's so you don't have to stress about them over the holidays. And for the students looking for early acceptance, I think." I replied immediately. A few of the others looked at me, and I shrugged. "I asked Naomi the same question last year."

"How'd you do on your SATs, Noah?" Sera asked curiously. I shook my head.

"I took the LSATs instead. They're kinda different." I explained.

"I hear they're for the mathematically challenged." Charlotte teased, sharing a smile with Emily and Darius as if they had some sort of inside joke on the matter. I pointedly ignored her.

"I did okay on mine. Nowhere near perfect, but good enough." I continued. Sera nodded, then looked at the parents.

"How'd you guys do?" She asked. Leo exchanged looks with Katherine.

"We didn't actually take them. By time we would have, we'd kinda decided that we weren't going to go to college." He explained. Calla looked up from her food.

"Chase and I took them." She pointed out. Leo frowned.

"Why?" He demanded incredulously. She hesitated and he groaned. "I swear to God Calla, if you say you took them for fun..."

"No..." Calla said insistently but didn't elaborate on why they actually took them. "Anyway, I'm sure you guys will do fine. Darius, I don't know about your grades, but Em and Char, you guys have always done well with school. Try not to stress about them too much."

"In that case, Darius'll be fine." Kira replied dismissively. She grinned at Darius. "Aren't you, like, top of the class or something?"

"Not really." He mumbled, kind of embarrassed.

"Ava said he actually is. Drives Em nuts." Kameron teased, jokingly.

"It does not." Emily growled.

"Moving on," I cleared my throat, and Emily and Darius both shot me a grateful smile, "did you guys remember to call Grandma Tasha?"

"I sent her a video message this morning." Charlotte replied proudly. Leo nodded.

"Mom's disappointed that we can't come and visit, but she understands that Char's got school and I can't abandon my current project." He replied.

"Well, I mean, I would have approved it if you'd asked. I'm sure your assistants could carry on without you for a few days…" Calla trailed off, giving him a look. Leo raised an eyebrow.

"Do you remember the last time we left Darren to work on a project solo?" He pointed out. Calla's eyes widened as she remembered.

"Right. Thanks for staying." She cleared her throat. Darius chuckled, amused.

"It's your grandmother's birthday, right?" He asked, looking at Emily. She nodded.

"Yeah. Naomi and Ben went to Mission Creek for the surprise party." She replied. He nodded.

"More coleslaw, Darius?" Calla offered, noticing that he'd finished all of his. He took the bowl with a grateful smile.

"Thanks." He replied, quickly filling his plate.

**Naomi's POV**

"So they're doing well?" Kieran asked as he tied a balloon closed, tossing it gently into the growing pile of green and yellow balloons. Everyone was helping to set up m mom's birthday party, and so far things were going smoothly. Rio had taken most of the kids out to help get dinner, while Taylor was helping Uncle Douglas finish up the desert. Ben was helping my oldest brother rearrange the tables in the training room, wanting to try and arrange them in a way so that the main table was smack dab in the middle of a circle of tables (Rio had insisted it would look nicer than the lines they'd been in earlier).

"I think so, though there a few hiccups. Sera's great in training, but she hesitates on actual missions. I think it's probably because she's less comfortable in the real world than the training sims, but I'm sure that'll go away with time." I reasoned. "Noah's been working on that with her."

"That's nice of him. The two of them really seem to get along." Kieran commented. I nodded.

"Yeah, they do. They make a great team, almost as good as Charlotte and Emily. The twins are pretty good together too – you can really see that they know each other's powers inside and out – but Kira's been giving me some trouble."

"Who's giving you trouble?" Adam asked as he and Ben came back into the room. Ben walked over to the counter, grabbed a couple of bottles of water, and tossed one to Adam. "Are we talking about a boyfriend? Leo and I can talk to him, if you want."

"Yeah, even if it was a boy, there's no way you two are 'talking' to him. Raphael Gilbert wouldn't come near me for two full months after your 'chat' with him." I scowled at him. Kieran and Ben both chuckled at that, while Adam didn't see why I was upset.

"Well, he shouldn't have been bullying you." He argued. I gave him a look.

"He pulled my hair, once. We were eight." I pointed out. Ben laughed some more, and I sighed. "It was sweet of you though."

"Damn straight it was." Adam grinned back.

"So, who's giving you trouble?" Ben asked, finishing off the last of his water.

"Kira." I replied. He nodded knowingly. I glanced at Kieran and Adam. "She doesn't get why someone without powers is in charge of the team. Frankly, I don't blame her. It is weird."

"Please. Calla didn't have powers, and she's a better leader than most of the bionic students we've had here." Adam rolled his eyes. Ben frowned.

"Calla has powers." He pointed out. He twisted his hands to mimic throwing a frisbee. "Her proton rings aren't tech."

"She didn't get those until after you were both born." Kieran pointed out. "She mentored us long before then."

"And she ran mission control for us before Davenport even started calling it 'mission command'." Adam agreed. He patted my shoulder. "Trust me, if Calla can do it, you can do it."

"Besides, you've got me." Ben added. I smirked.

"And you're  _so_  helpful." I teased. He grinned.

"I know." He joked. Adam chuckled and led Ben back into the training area. Kieran raised an eyebrow at me, eyes darting towards the door.

"So…" He asked, smirking. I rolled my eyes.

"So, did Taylor hear back from her guy at UPSEI?" I asked, changing the topic. His expression turned more serious.

"Uh, yeah, she did. Do you remember hearing about that earthquake a couple of years?" He asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, a bad earthquake caused some damage to the UPSEI prison, and a number of the inmates escaped. But I thought they were all recaptured the same night?" I asked.

"So, did we. Apparently, a couple of them avoided recapture, including lovely Reese. She's one of the shapeshifters who attacked Centium City just after you were born." He explained. I nodded, remembering the story well – that was when the public first learned about the Elite Force.

"And they kept it quiet?" I demanded, stunned that the government would hide the fact that such a dangerous criminal had escaped. He sighed.

"It was right before the election. Apparently, saying that they recaptured everyone looked good for the commissioner's campaign, and they were trying to avoid a PR scandal." He told me. I shook my head.

"You gotta  _love_  this country's politics." I commented sarcastically. "You got any good news?"

"Actually…If Carrie is right about Lexi being among your enemies, she's the only bionic rebel you have to worry about." He offered me a reassuring smile. "Sebastian Krane was arrested in Nebraska last year. He's been in UPSEI prison ever since."

"Has he had any contact with Lexi?" I asked sharply. Just because Sebastian was in prison, doesn't mean he wasn't in on this. Kieran shook his head.

"As far as we can tell, he hasn't had contact with anyone outside the prison." He replied. I nodded thoughtfully. "That doesn't mean he doesn't know anything though. He and Lexi were pretty close back in the day – I'm pretty sure they were sleeping with each other, to be honest. He might have some insight on her plans."

"Do you think he'd help us if we went to visit him?" I asked. He shrugged.

"It couldn't hurt. I bet after a year of no contact with the outside world, he might open up to someone." He replied. I nodded again, making a mental note to mention something to Ben, just as Dad walked into the room.

"Are you guys almost done?" He asked, looking around at the very large pile of balloons.

"Just finishing them off." I replied, grabbing one of the last, untouched balloons. He nodded.

"Good. Tasha's going to be here in about twenty minutes." He told us, grinning.

**Charlotte's POV**

I sighed in frustration, staring down at the booklet in front of me, before letting my gaze drift outside. Emily and Darius were gone, having left for the library half an hour ago, and without them, I just couldn't seem to focus on the work.

It wasn't that it was overly difficult or anything. The practice booklet was challenging, sure, but the questions themselves weren't all that difficult, and given some actually focus, I was sure I could do fairly well on the test. The problem was, I just couldn't focus.

"Whatcha doing?" I jumped a little as Kameron suddenly appeared behind me, a small bowl of fruit in his hands.

"Geez, could you be any quieter?" I grumbled. He chuckled a little.

"Sorry." He apologized before nodding at the booklet. "Are you still studying?"

"Trying to." I sighed, dropping my pencil. I rubbed my face tiredly. "I just can't focus on it."

"Why not?" He asked, sitting down. I shrugged.

"I just always study better in a group. It's why I make Ava and Emily join study groups with me at school." I explained. "And then they, and Matt and Darius, all ditched me."

"Why don't I help you study?" Kameron offered. I laughed a little at that. "I'm serious."

"That's sweet, Kam. But this stuff is, like, two grades ahead of you. You don't even learn some of this stuff until grade 11." I pointed out. He shook his head.

"No, we went over this last week." He insisted, pointing out a section in the book. I raised an eyebrow at that.

"And what algebra class are you taking?" I questioned. His cheeks flushed a little and he ducked his head a bit.

"The, uh, honors one." He admitted.

"Wait, you're taking honors classes?" That caught me a little off guard. He sighed.

"Yes, but don't tell Kira." He begged. "Algebra's really hard for her, and I don't want her to feel any worse about it than she does."

I grinned a little. "Okay." I agreed, shaking my head. "Honors."

"Shut up." He smacked my jokingly in the arm before leaning forward to look at the test better. "Okay, why I don't I quiz you first? That way we can see what parts you already know like the back of your hand?"

"Okay." I agreed again, smiling at him. He smiled back before looking at the pages to figure out where to start.

**Naomi's POV**

"I hate that you have to leave so soon." Mom sighed, giving me another hug as we finished gathering our bags.

"I know. I wish I could visit more, but between school and all the craziness going on back home..." I trailed off with a sigh. She nodded, sitting down on the edge of the bed. She patted the covers, expecting me to sit down next to her.

"You know, you're doing a lot of good out there. You should be really proud of what you and Ben are doing." She told me.

"You really thing so? It feels like we're making no progress at all." I sighed. She shook her head.

"These things take time, sweetie. Becoming a team takes time." She assured me. She sighed. "I'm not going to pretend that I love that you're going into battles and fights like that; god knows that I hated it when your siblings went on missions, especially before Leo had bionics."

"He said that you hated it after too, that he had to tell you that he was running things from the safety of a van or something to keep you from freaking out?" I remembered. She nodded.

"Yes, he did tell me that. And by the way, thank you for being the only one of your siblings not to lie about the stupid stuff you do." She told me. I cracked a smile at that. "But listen to me, okay? It is dangerous, this kind of life, and I want you to be careful. Every time that your siblings have gone on a mission, they have always walked away from it alive, and you are not going to be my first baby who breaks from that tradition."

"I won't. And I'm always careful" I promised. Mom nodded.

"I know, and you've got Ben to watch your back, which I admit, I'm grateful for." She said. I smiled.

"It is nice having a best friend who's bullet-proof." I agreed. She raised an eyebrow.

"Best friend? Is that all?" She teased. I stared at her. "You two seem awfully close."

"We're just friends, Mom." I sighed. "Guys and girls can be best friends, can't they?"

"They can. But Chase and Calla were best friends, and so were Spin and AJ, and Logan and Kate, and-"

"Okay, okay. I get it." I sighed, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. "But really, Mom. He doesn't like me like that, and I don't like him like that."

"If you're sure." She sighed, placed her hands on her legs for a moment, then stood up. "Alright, I guess it's time to go."

"I guess." I agreed, following her into the kitchen. Dad, Ben, Adam, Rio, and Frank were in the living room. "See you, kiddo." I told Frank, giving him a quick.

"Bye Aunt Naomi." He told me before going back to messaging someone on his Davenwatch.

"Bye Naomi, bye Ben." Rio gave each of us a hug, then Adam came in his for him.

"Remember to call me if Calla manages to give anyone food poisoning before Jaden, Chase, Bree, and the others get back. Jaden and I made a bet before he left." My older brother instructed.

"Oh, trust me, you'll be hearing about it." Ben agreed as I went to hug my dad.

"Stay safe, listen to your sister-in-law. I love you." Dad told me, hugging me tightly.

"I love you too." I told him as Ben picked up my bag for me. I shot him a grateful smile before turning back to my parents. "Don't worry, I'll be back for Christmas. And I'll call you guys on Sunday, okay?"

"Fly safe!" Mom called after us as we headed out the door.

**Noah's POV**

"What about philosophy?" Kira asked, looking up from her holocomputer just as Aunt Calla walked into the living room. "You could focus on ethics."

"Uh..." Honestly, it didn't sound like the worst idea. "I'll put that in the maybe column."

"Hello school-aged children." Calla frowned at us, placing her bag down on one of the end tables by the couch. "What are all of you doing here on a school day?"

"They gave all the non-seniors the day off so that the only ones in the school are the ones doing SATs. Something about helping them focus more." Sera explained from where she was perched on a chair near me. "Which was probably a good idea. Did you see Emily this morning? She nearly ran out of here in her PJ top."

"I know. Why do you think I drove her to school? I thought some coffee might ease her nerves a little." Calla sighed. Kira gave her a look.

"You thought coffee would calm her nerves?" She asked incredulously.

"Us Parkers have a weird coffee tolerance." Calla replied. I nodded seriously in agreement, to which Sera laughed a little.

"Dad did say you were a bit of an addict when you all worked together." She mused. Calla smirked almost proudly at that, then looked around in confusion.

"Okay, two more questions: first, where is Kam?"

"Kameron went to grab lunch for him and Charlotte. He wanted to treat her out after the test since she was so stressed out for it." Kira explained with a smile. "They were up all night studying."

"Leo mentioned. It's very sweet of him to help her." Calla leaned on the back of the couch, placing herself between the two girls. "Hey, you'll tell me if they start dating, right? I'll need to put in some rules for the two of them so I can pretend I have some control over you teenagers."

"It's nice that you've come to realize your limited control over us." Kira teased. Calla raised an eyebrow, then leaned in a little closer.

"You do know that I still have control over the Wi-Fi?" She asked before getting up and walking around to sit properly on the couch while Kira took that in.

"I mean, absolutely. We'll tell you everything." Kira promised, earning a real laugh from Sera, Calla, and I.

"You had a second question?" Sera asked, grinning at Calla. She nodded, then jerked her chin towards me.

"Yeah, what are you doing?" She questioned. I looked back at the big white board I'd pulled out of mission command's storage. I'd divided it into 3 sections - 'Definitely Not' 'Possibly' and 'Interested', with various words underneath two of the sections' titles.

"I'm picking a college major?" I replied uncertaintly.

"And we're helping." Sera added. Calla nodded, then looked over the whiteboard more studiously.

"I see your 'Interested' column is still empty, and that you've put a lot of STEM majors under the 'Definitely Not'." She commented thoughtfully. I opened my mouth to defend my position, but she spoke up first. "What about Art History? Your mom majored in that."

"Uh, it doesn't really seem like me." I admitted, before scrawling it in the no section.

"Well," Calla cocked her head to the side as she thought about it. "You put journalism in the 'possibly' column. What about communications and..." she leaned over Kira shoulder to read off the university's holopage "...media studies."

I considered it. "Maybe." I agreed, writing it down under journalism. "Didn't Ben major in communications?"

"Yeah. It was a double major...I think the other one was history?" Calla shrugged uncertainly.

"History's boring. That's definitely a no." Kira commented.

"Isn't it, Noah's decision?" Sera asked.

"It's still a no." I replied, writing it down. Calla nodded approvingly.

"Good. I was with Kira on that one." She commented dryly.

"Oh! I've got it." Kira declared, sitting up. She smiled proudly, turning to me. "Women's studies!" Calla gave her a look. "What? It's perfect."

"Maybe not." Sera supplied.

**Charlotte's POV**

"Well?" Kameron was waiting for us when we exited the school, having just finished taking what could have possibly been the most important test in our lives. Well, probably not, but it certainly felt like that today.

"Well, I no longer feel like I'm going to puke." Ava announced, her tone full of relief. Emily was frowning deeply. "Oh no, I know that look. Char, she's overthinking it again."

"It's just that last essay. I think I may have made the totally wrong argument on it. I think I misunderstood what the question was..." She looked back at the school wistfully.

"I'm sure you did fine, Em. No one was better prepared for it." Kameron reassured her.

"Except me." I beamed before pulling the younger boy in for a hug. "Thank you, thank you for helping me study."

"It was nothing." He brushed it off, but he was smiling when I pulled away. "Forget about it."

"No way. Seriously, I couldn't have made it through that without you." I insisted.

"Hey guys." Matt and Darius appeared at that moment, Matt looking between Kameron and I curiously. "How'd it go?"

"Terribly. I think I failed." Emily sighed. Darius looked at her.

"Did you?" He asked, waiting. She thought about it.

"Well, I think I did okay on the math part." She admitted. He nodded.

"How good is okay?" He asked patiently. She shrugged.

"Well, I definitely got at least the first seventeen questions in the no calculator part of it right..." She trailed off. Darius smiled.

"That's a lot better than okay. Em, there were were only 20 questions in that section. How'd you do on the calculator section?" I tuned my attention back to Kameron and Matt by this point - Emily didn't need both Darius and I to stroke her ego.

"So, what about you?" I asked Matt.

"Perfect score." He grinned. I gave him a look. "I'm serious. I'm pretty sure I aced it. How'd you do?"

"Not THAT well, but I did pretty good." I admitted. He nodded.

"Sorry I couldn't help you study." He apologized. I shrugged.

"It's okay. Kameron helped me instead." I replied. Kameron grinned at that, looking at Matt. Matt frowned, looking annoyed, but it only lasted for a second before he was smiling again.

"So, listen," he grabbed my hand and pulled me off to the side a little, not out of earshot of Kameron and the others, but so that it felt at least a little more private, "most of the grade is going on a last minute camping trip tonight. I was wondering if you wanted to go?"

"Yeah, Emily and I heard some kids talking about it earlier. We were going to go." I agreed. He worked his jaw a little, but was still smiling.

"I meant, did you want to go with me? Like it was a sort of date?" He offered. I smiled.

"Really?" I asked. He nodded, grinning. "I mean, yes, I'd love to."

"Awesome." He grinned, leaning in to kiss me. I pressed my lips against his eagerly, my entire mind screaming. After a brief moment, he pulled back and grinned at Kameron and the others.

"Emily, Darius, Ava, you guys are coming, right?" He requested.

"Sure. Sounds fun." Emily agreed, taking Darius' hand. He looked a little less enthusiastic, but nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, we'll be there." He agreed. Ava cheered, clapping her hands together.

"Great. You two can tell your parents that you're sharing a tent with me, so they don't freak." She told me and Emily. Matt cleared his throat, then looked apologetically at Kameron.

"It's a seniors only thing, dude. Sorry." He apologized. Kameron nodded awkwardly.

"I get it." He sighed. He grabbed a couple of take out bags off of the bench next to him. "I should...I should go."

"Who's the lunch for?" Ava asked, noticing that there were two bags in his hands.

"Uh...Kira." He replied. He raised a hand in goodbye at us. "See ya around, I guess."

"Hey, did you guys want to go to that cafe on Elmer? It's my treat." Matt offered. Ava smiled, then glanced back at Kameron's retreating form. "Ava, he already has lunch for him and his sister. Otherwise, I'd invite him."

"I know. I'll catch up. I just want to talk to him for a moment." She replied before running after Kameron. I watched as she said something quickly to him, feeling guilty for not inviting him out with us. But Matt was right - he already bought lunch for him and Kira, and I didn't really want to interfere with twin time, right?

**Noah's POV**

"What about xenology?" Sera suggested. "You'd basically be studying superheroes. That's perfect for you."

"Emily took an online course last year about it. It's more biology and chemistry than superhero history. And as interesting as it is to learn about why pyrokinetics have stronger immune systems than cryokinetics, or the metabolism workings of super-strength people, it's not totally my thing. Thanks though."

"Did you really need to buy all new things?" Calla sighed, looking at the piles of camping gear that Emily and Charlotte had brought in hours before.

"We don't have any old stuff. You know, this is on you two." Emily commented, pulling at her shirt. She had decided to go a little less preppy, as she had put it, and found one of Naomi's old plaid shirts to wear to the camping trip tonight.

"Oh yeah, how so?" Calla questioned, crossing her arms.

"You never took me camping as a kid." Emily insisted. Calla laughed at that.

"You didn't want to go camping. We tried to take you camping, and you used your powers to shut down the car. You hung onto the edge of the door when we tried to leave. You'd have thought we were walking you to your execution, not a family vacation." Calla shook her head and walked back over to the mirror to check her reflection. "Alright, guys." She said loudly, getting everyone's attention. "Leo and I are going out to a Davenport Industries fundraiser after we drop the girls off, so you're on your own for the night. Don't get too excited though - Naomi should be back around 11. There's money on top of the fridge for dinner."

"Can we order from Jumper's?" I asked, looking over my shoulder. Calla nodded.

"Only if someone gets me a chicken wrap for lunch tomorrow. Deal?" She looked at us all expectantly. Kira, Kameron, Sera, and I all nodded in agreement. "Good. Now, the banquet hall doesn't allow holowatches inside their premises, so Leo and I won't be reachable, but Katherine is just one floor down, in case of emergency or mission. Otherwise, Noah's in charge."

"Well, that's a great idea." Kira commented sarcastically.

"Am I allowed to withhold dinner as punishment for sass, Aunt Calla?" I inquired. She rolled her eyes.

"No." She told me before looking at Kira. "But play nice anyway."

"Hey, you ready to go?" Charlotte asked, bursting through the door excitedly, Leo right behind her.

"Yep. Look at what I found upstairs." Emily knelt down to show Charlotte something in her bag. Leo sighed.

"So, Emily, whose tent are you all sleeping in, tonight?" He asked.

"Ava's." Emily replied, blinking innocently. Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"He thinks I'm lying about who we're going with." She replied.

"I just want to be sure. I know how I was at your age." He sighed, giving Calla a look. "Camping with boys, what a great idea."

"It's the whole grade, Leo." Calla patted his shoulder before adjusting his blazer. "And they're old enough to be responsible. What's the worst that can happen?"

"Don't get me started." Leo grumbled. Calla rolled her eyes and grabbed one of the bags from the ground.

"We'll see you guys later. Stay out of trouble." She instructed before leading Leo and the girls out. As soon as the door was shut behind them, Kameron sat up from where he'd been slouching on the couch, a determined look on his face.

"We're crashing that camping trip." He announced. Kira beamed.

"Finally, someone has a good idea around here!" She exclaimed, on board already.

"What? No you're not." I told them. Kameron nodded.

"Yeah, we are." He insisted.

"You don't even know where they're camping." I pointed out. He grinned.

"Actually, Ava told me the location. It was her suggestion, to be honest." He grinned.

"I'm going to go grab some sleeping bags and supplies from the mission gear room." Kira announced, skipping towards the hyperlift. Kameron turned to Sera and I.

"You guys in?" He requested. Sera hesitated.

"I don't know...I don't think we're supposed to." She said. Kameron rolled his eyes.

"Doing something you're not supposed to is basically a human teenager right of passage, Seraphina. You have to come." He reasoned.

"Well..." She trailed off, considering it.

"Charlotte's going to be mad." I tried. Kameron shook his head.

"No way, she'll find it funny. I mean, it's not like we're going to ruin it. We're just tagging along." He pointed out. "And before you try to tell me we'll get in trouble, we're just going camping, Noah. It's not like we're breaking into a bar or something."

I sighed. "Fine. But I'm coming with you." I insisted. "At least then Calla can't say I wasn't somewhat responsible."

"You know, if we only go for a few hours, we should be back before Naomi and Ben arrive." Sera pointed out. "Calla doesn't even have to know."

"That's even better." Kameron agreed. I sighed, took one last glance at the whiteboard, then capped the marker and tossed it onto the end table.

"Fine. Camping it is." I agreed reluctantly.

**Naomi's POV**

I woke up to the dim lights of an airplane cabin and the soft sounds of people talking around us. "Oh." I sat up quickly, realizing that my head had been lying against Ben's shoulder. "Sorry."

"It's fine." The blonde superhero reassured me with a kind smile. "I konked out for a bit too."

"How much longer until we land?" I asked, sitting up properly and rubbing my eyes. He checked his watch, then shrugged.

"About an hour. You can go back to sleep if you want." He suggested. "My shoulder is very comfortable."

"Maybe later." I laughed a little at that. I looked over his shoulder at the holocomputer mini in his hands, watching the images of different people switch as he went through the profiles. "What are you doing?"

"Looking through old enemies of your siblings." He replied. I looked at him sharply. "Sebastian Krane may be in prison, but if Lexi is involved, then others may be too."

"I see." He stopped on one picture, this one of a woman about Chase's age, with darker skin and brown hair. "That's Reese Steinberg. She and one of her siblings - a brother, I think - escaped UPSEI about a year ago."

"Yeah, I know." He nodded. "I've been reading up on her. Even I have to admit, she's kind of a badass."

"And unfortunately, a badass who might be one of our enemies." I sighed.

"I'm pretty sure we're past 'might be'." He commented. He looked at me. "They have footage of the shapeshifters' attacks. I watched one of them turn into a buzzing swarm, just like Victoria did when she fought Emily and Kira."

"So, if Reese is Victoria, where does that leave us?" I asked thoughtfully. "We have Catastrophe, who was revived somehow, despite it being technically impossible."

"Saturn, the son of my father's greatest enemy." Ben counted. "Jupiter, who carries a symbol of Caldera and is probably from that planet."

"And Lexi, who is probably Venus, judging by the similarities in their appearances and her general age." I finished. "Not to mention Vulcan, Mars, Neptune, and Discordia, all of whom are still mysteries to us."

"Actually, I've been thinking about that..." He turned to face me fully. "What if we don't already know them? I mean, we've just been assuming they're old enemies of one of the Elite Force's since the rest of them are, but what if they're not? What if they're people we've never faced before?"

"Why would they be attacking us, then?" I frowned. "It doesn't make sense. They have no motive."

"Look at them." Ben pressed a holo button and the hologram changed to show what looked like footage from the Davenport Industries attack. Ben focused in on Mars, and we watched his behavior for a few minutes. "How does he act to you?"

"I don't know. A little overenthusiastic about the whole thing...I see why Calla nicknamed him 'Jumpy' when she first made her report about what happened." I replied. He nodded.

"Exactly. He's impulsive almost...like it was his first time doing this type of thing. He seems young to me." I frowned, following his line of thinking.

"Wait, you think he's a kid?" He was a little smaller, not quite as filled out as he probably could have been. Skinny too, like a lot of teenage boys.

"What if they all are?" Ben pressed. "Vulcan, and the two we haven't seen yet - Neptune and Discordia. What if that's why we can't find anyone alive in our records that match them?"

"Why would kids want to take over the city or attack the Elite Force?" I questioned. He pressed his lips together in a thin line.

"Why did Saturn make me his first target when he became a supervillain?" He asked in return. I frowned.

"Your dad put his in jail..." I trailed off as it hit me. "Just because they haven't fought us or the Elite Force, doesn't mean their parents haven't."

"If the Elite Force kicked their parents' asses, then it would give them one hell of a motive to go after the city they love." Ben declared, and I shivered as I realized how right he could be. How many enemies did we have now because of our parents' and families' past heroism?

**Charlotte's POV**

"This is nice." I smiled, brushing my hair out of my face, smiling at Matt as he tended to the fire. He shot me a grin before going back to it. I had to admit: I wasn't lying about liking it out here. Camping wasn't really Papa's thing (Aunt Rio joked that what he did was called 'glamping'), but Mama loved it outside. Before we came to the city, we used to go out to Grandpa and Grandma's cabin in the mountains every summer for at least a few weeks. Frank, Noah, and Justine would come, and it would just be a blast.

Emily, on the other hand, wasn't quite a fan of nature.

"Something's on my boot." My cousin complained, coming over to us.

"It's called 'mud'!" One of the boys from our class shouted at her as she passed, and she flipped him the bird crankily.

"It'll come off your boots easy." Ava assured her as Emily sat down on a log next to me and Matt.

"I don't like camping." She grumbled. Darius glanced at Matt, then crouched down next to Emily.

"You know, we could get out of here, if you want?" He murmured quietly, as if he didn't want us to hear him. I frowned, but chose to pretend as if I hadn't heard anything. "We can just sneak off when no one's looking and go see a movie or something."

"You're not leaving." Ava, on the other hand, didn't pretend not to hear. Darius shot her an alarmed look, disliking being caught, but the black-haired girl shot him a glare. "No one is leaving in the middle of the party."

"I don't see why not." Emily argued, crossing her arms. Ava glared at her for a second, then her gaze softened.

"I mean, I suppose you could, but it's dark out, and the woods are pretty thick. And looking at what happened at Halloween, I just don't think it's a good idea for anyone to go off on their own, is all." She reasoned. Emily held her gaze for a moment, then sighed.

"Okay." She agreed, much to Ava's pleasure. She smiled apologetically at Darius. "Maybe we can see a movie tomorrow night?"

He nodded, though he didn't look reassured. "I suppose..." He sighed. Ava clapped her hands together.

"Then it's decided. You're staying." She announced cheerfully, standing up. She looked around. "Ooh, I've got smores stuff in my bag. Darius, come help with me it."

The two of them got up to go get some smore stuff from her tent, just as Matt grabbed my attention again.

"Hey, you put your stuff in my tent, right?" He confirmed. "I know Emily's crashing with Darius..."

"Yep. Just the two of us, all night." I agreed with a smirk. He grinned and leaned in to kiss me again. Just as his lips touched mine, I heard Emily gasp.

"What are you guys doing here?" She demanded.

**Noah's POV**

"What are you guys doing here?" Charlotte turned at the sound of Emily's voice, staring at Kira, Kameron, Sera, and I as we walked out of the trees. Kira was beaming cheerfully, but Kameron was staring at Charlotte and Matt, who'd just started to kiss, with a pained look on his face.

"We're, uh..." He trailed off. Kira rolled her eyes.

"We're crashing the party!" She announced cheerfully. Charlotte frowned, looking at the others.

"I don't know if the other seniors will be okay with that..." She trailed off uncertainly. Kira, not bothered by the idea, dropped her bag on the ground, then stepped onto a log.

"Does anyone care that we're here? Anybody?" She cleared her throat loudly, but was ignored by almost everyone in the area. "Thank you for your lack of attention!"

"We don't have to stay. We just thought it'd be fun if we tagged along." Sera explained sheepishly. "We can leave if we're intruding."

"This was the twins' idea, not mine." I clarified. Emily smiled and shook her head.

"No, stay. Might make this whole 'outdoor camping' thing seem less..."

"Outdoors?" Matt supplied, forcing himself not to laugh.

"Precisely." Emily agreed. She looked back at us, Sera, and the twins. "With you here, I can pretend we're back home."

"You didn't have to come." Darius reminded her, walking back over to her. She smiled at him.

"But you were coming." She reasoned. Despite himself, he smiled at that. The rest of us made ourselves comfortable on logs as Ava passed out boxes of graham crackers, bags of marshmallows, and chocolate bars.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Darius stopped Emily as she went to pop a marshmallow into her mouth. "What about smores?"

"What about them?" She asked, dropping her hand with the marshmallow still in it. He looked at her.

"You're not going to make one?" He asked, surprised. She shrugged. "Don't you like them?"

"I've never had one." She admitted. He stared at her for a long moment. "Listen, if it wasn't obvious before, I'm not a camper."

"Still. Jesus, Em." He shook his head at her. He held his hand out. "Give it to me, c'mon."

"Fine." She relented, giving him the marshmallow. He put it on a metal rod (that Ava conveniently had enough of for everyone), still shaking his head as he showed her the proper way to make a smore. I chuckled at the sight.

"What's a smore?" Sera asked, her voice quiet and shy. I looked at her and noticed how she was staring at the others uncomfortably. "We don't have them back home."

"Okay, basically, you cook one of these on the fire," I held up a marshmallow, "then you place it between two of these," I lifted the box of graham crackers, "along with a piece of chocolate."

"Then what?" She asked, eyes wide. I grinned.

"Then you eat it. It's a desert." I explained. She nodded thoughtfully.

"Cool." She decided, taking a marshmallow from the bag. I glanced back at Darius and Emily to see how they were making out, frowning when I noticed the look on Darius' face. He was looking at my cousin with a conflicted look on his face, as if something was wrong.

"What's up with him?" I whispered to Ava as she reached over to take a piece of chocolate from one of the extra bars. She followed my gaze, then shrugged.

"He wanted to take her to a movie, but I insisted they stay and enjoy time with their class before we all graduate. They're fine." She assured me. "Darius just doesn't like being told what to do."

"Yeah, sure." Somehow, that didn't seem quite it, but who was I to argue?

Suddenly, Ava's Davenwatch went off, and we all started at the noise. "Hey, I thought you said we couldn't bring tech with us!" Emily whined in protest.

"My mom made me take it in case she needed to get in touch with me." Ava stood up, apologizing. "Just give me a sec."

"Hey, Em, listen-" Darius began, but was cut off by the sudden screams of his classmates.

**Charlotte's POV**

"What the hell?" I demanded, jumping to my feet just as an explosion rocked the campground, two of the tents at the edge of the campground. Kids ran screaming from the explosion as two figures - darkly clothes and visor-wearing - stepped out of the woods. One of them was Saturn, the other Victoria (if I was guessing right by the photos S.H.I.R.T. had managed to get ahold of), and both of them looked ready for trouble.

"Here? Really?" Emily muttered, standing up.

"We need to run, get out of here." Matt announced, grabbing my hand. I sent him a smile, glad that he at least wanted to be with me during all of this, but knowing that we couldn't really do that. With Ben and Naomi not due back for about another hour, we were all that was left to defend the city.

"No." Emily shook her head, refusing. She stood up. "I'm not going to let those idiots ruin my weekend."

"You didn't even want to come." Ava pointed out, staring at her.

"Doesn't matter. If anyone's going to ruin my plans, it'll be me." She declared, and ran towards her and Darius' tent, where her bag was.

"And on that cheery note, I guess we're staying." Noah began, but then, Saturn aimed another blast at the tents, specifically the tents Emily was running to.

"Em!" I screamed, and Emily started to stop, but it was too late - the massive blast of electricity hit the tents and blew them up, sending anything and anyone near them (including my cousin), flying.

"Emily!" Darius, Sera, Noah, and I ran towards her. "Em!"

Darius reached her first, dropping to his knees next to her unmoving body. "She's okay." He breathed a sigh of relief, checking her pulse. I winced at the sight of the blood dripping from a deep-looking gash on her head, just below her hairline. "I think she was just knocked out."

"Thank God." Noah sighed before looking over his shoulder. I followed his gaze, back to the mess of students and out of control fires.

"Wait, where did Kira and Kameron go?" Sera worried, realizing that she couldn't see her cousins. I looked around, and thought I spotted a speckle of fire coming from where I'd last seen Victoria. Then I realized, Matt was also missing.

"Where's Matt?" I added, standing up. Darius cleared his throat.

"You guys go find them. I'm going to get her out of here." He told us, gently but swiftly pulling Emily to her feet. She was slowly regaining consciousness, her feet moving clumsily in a failed attempt to help Darius get her standing, but not nearly quickly enough. Darius carefully put her arm around his shoulders, one of his arms wrapping around her waist.

"Be careful." I told him, glancing at Emily worriedly. He held my gaze, then nodded seriously.

"You too." His tone was solemn. He nodded once more before walking Emily into the woods, away from the dangers.

"I'll get Kameron," Sera announced, looking at us. "Noah, you find Kira, and Charlotte, find your boyfriend. Then we need to try and fend off them before they hurt any of the students."

"Right." I nodded in agreement before darting back into the middle of the campground. Most of the students had taken off into the woods, screaming or looking for help, so it was thankfully less chaotic out here than when the first attack had started.

In the end, I didn't find Matt so much as he found me. He slammed into me from the side, having been trying to escape an attack. "Hey!" I cried, grabbing at his wrist. He didn't miss a beat, turning his hand around to grab my wrist back before trying to tug me into the trees. "We have to get out of here!" He insisted, pulling me into the edges of the trees.

"No way. My friends are out there!" I insisted, even as he continued to pull me. His adrenaline must have been pushing him forward, I supposed, because I hadn't expected him to be this strong. Despite my struggles, he was still winning the tug of war. "Matt, stop! I have to go back for them!"

He stopped for a moment, nodded once to himself, and released me. "Okay, fine." He agreed, raising his hands as if to prove that he wouldn't grab me again. I smiled.

"I'll find you after." I promised him, before turning around. But before I could run back into the thick of things, there was a sharp pain in the back of my head, and everything went black.

**Noah's POV**

"Kira!" I shouted, reaching the younger girl fairly quickly. She was standing between two burning tents, the fires raging far higher than they should have been able to. One quick look told me she was the one making them grow, as she raised her hands, clenching them as she glared at Victoria. The criminal was smiling beneath her visor, clearly amused.

"What is your problem?" Kira demanded, eyes practically glowing in the firelight. Victoria just smirked before she suddenly morphed into one of those annoying swarm things. The swarm split and lunged at us, but Kira was ready for it. She raised her hands and the fire flew from the tents into the air before blasting towards the swarm. The swarm expertly avoided the hit, the first half of it diving upwards to avoid it while the other dived downwards and continued its path towards Kira.

I went to intervene, only for something moving very fast to hit me from behind. I landed hard on my stomach, but quickly rolled onto my back to try and get a good look at whatever had attacked me.

A woman in a visor was standing over me, a cocky smirk on her face. "Venus." I growled, recognizing her from our photos. She smirked a little more upon being recognized.

"I hear you're fast." She commented. "Let's see if you're as fast as your mother."

She didn't waste any more time before lunging at super speed towards Kira. I threw myself off the ground, forcing myself to go from 0 to 80 immediately. I just managed to catch Venus, hitting her from the side. The sudden impact sent us both sprawling onto the ground, but Kira was spared from having to deal with two super villains at once. The pyrokinetic girl was already focused on using her powers to try and keep the swarm from coming any closer to her - she wouldn't have been able to fend off both attacks at once.

"Stay away from my friends." I growled, pushing myself onto my feet. Venus, now sitting on her bottom with her hands on the ground, cocked her head at me.

"Interesting. You are fast." She admitted. She pushed herself into a running stance in one fluid motion. "I'm still faster though."

She sped off, this time heading straight into the woods. "Hey!" Kira called, and I spun around in time to see the swarm disappear into the night. "Yeah, you better run!"

"Why are they running?" I demanded, confused. Kira turned around, frowning.

"I don't know." She admitted. Suddenly, the sounds of sirens hit our ears. "That might be why." She took a breath before looking around, concerned. "Where's Kam and Sera? And Charlotte, Ava, Emily, Darius, and Matt?" She demanded.

"Guys!" We looked to see Sera, a little battered and bruises, but mostly alright, standing nearby. "Almost everyone went that way." She pointed towards the main entrance to the camping ground. We nodded and followed her down the path, meeting up with police men, S.H.I.R.T. agents, and paramedics on our way.

We eventually reached the main road, where multiple ambulances had gathered. Students were either talking to agents and cops, or being treated by paramedics, an air of panic still in the atmosphere.

"Kameron!" Kira cried in relief, running over to an ambulance. Emily was sitting on the bumper, Kameron patting a white cloth to her head while Darius talked to a nearby paramedic. His hand was resting on Emily's shoulder, squeezing it gently any time she whimpered in pain.

"Are you okay?" I demanded, walking over to my younger cousin.

"The only thing badly hurt is my ego." She assured me, wincing as the cloth came into contact with her wound again. "Kameron, I'm fine. The paramedic said I didn't even need stitches."

"It's still a nasty contusion." He replied, even as he softened his moments. "You need to keep it clean, otherwise you risk an infection."

"Yes, Dr. Broadman." Emily started to roll her eyes before wincing in regret at the action. She looked between me, Kira, and Sera before frowning. "Where are Charlotte and Matt?" She asked, confused. I frowned.

"I thought they were out here with you guys." I commented, looking around. A sinking feeling came over me as I realized that the two of them weren't in the crowd. "Oh no."

**Charlotte's POV**

I winced, opening my eyes to stare at a dimly lit, dirty floor. I rolled over onto my side, my head throbbing excruciatingly as I did so. I blinked a couple of times at the ceiling to try and clear my blurry vision, but as my gaze focuses, I almost came to regret that. I sat up in shock as my mind registered the blue, glowing bars jutting out from the ground. They surrounded me like the bars of a jail cell, imprisoning me in a small, cramped area just big enough for me to lie down in. "Hey!" I shouted. My head ached at the volume, but I was too confused to care. "Hey! What's going on?"

Frustrated, I raised my hand, intending on blasting the bars with an EMP blast. It wouldn't hurt me, even in such a tight area, but it would shut down whatever they were. But to my shock, nothing happened.

"Don't bother. The bars block your bionics." I looked up at the sound of Matt's voice and watched as he walked out of the shadows to stand in front of me. He was smiling cockily, arms crossed as he looked at me.

"Matt?" I demanded, staring at him. What...how...I couldn't comprehend the situation. He looked at the bars, amused.

"Boy, does this bring me back." He commented before turning his attention back to me. "We have a lot to talk about, don't we, Charlotte?"

"Matt, what's going on?" I demanded. I grabbed the bars desperately but let go with a cry as they shocked me.

"Well, for starters, my name isn't Matt." He replied, raising an eyebrow in amusement at the scene. He paused for a moment, grinning coldly. "It's Marcus."


	11. Abducted

**Charlotte's POV**

I crossed my arms, forcing myself to look Matt…Marcus, in the eye. I didn't want him to know I was afraid. I was a hero; I wasn't supposed to be afraid. "Am I supposed to know who you are?" I thanked God that my voice didn't shake when I spoke.

Marcus stared at me for a long moment. "You don't know who I am?"

"No." I narrowed my eyes, thinking. I knew the name 'Marcus' was important – Papa had been vague about who he was, but I knew it was something big from my parents' past – but that was it.

"I'm Marcus." He repeated. I nodded.

"We covered that." I agreed, channelling a level of sarcasm that Emily would be proud of.

"Marcus Davenport." He added. I frowned.

"Davenport?" I repeated, confused. Marcus stared at me.

"You have no idea who I am." I didn't think I'd ever heard someone sound more offended.

"Sorry." I shrugged with false nonchalance, feeling a little tension come out of my shoulders. Marcus just shook his head.

"Well then. That's just…disappointing." He shook his head.

"What do you want, Marcus, Matt, whatever your name is?" I demanded. He smirked.

"Isn't it obvious? Revenge." He replied, his tone cheerful in a sadistic way. I bit my lip as he began to pace in front of my cell. "Since you don't know who I am, I guess I'll just have to tell you. I was your father's greatest enemy, built by Douglas Davenport before he went soft."

"Built." I repeated. I frowned, looking him over. "You're a robot?"

" _Android_." He replied testily. "Designed to be more powerful than Adam, Bree, or Chase ever could be."

"But you lost." I commented. He gave me a look. "It wouldn't be revenge if you'd won."

"Yes, I lost. I made the mistake of working for an engineer named Giselle Vickers. But, as stupid and cowardly as she was, she was smart enough to back up my drive to a secret network. Lexi Krane found it, and me, when she was looking for her own way to get revenge."

"Lexi Krane." I hummed.

"You know who she is, and not who I am?" He questioned. I shrugged. "That's just perfect."

"So, Lexi rebuilt you? How come Emily couldn't tell that you were a machine?"

"Yes, Emily and her obnoxious little gift. Of course, Calla's kid has powers. As if the Parker Clan wasn't a pain in my ass already." He rolled his eyes. "Reese rebuilt me with Lexi's help, using organic materials they got from one of their allies. They even made me look like myself, which I have to say, was a nice touch."

"They Frankenstein'd you?" I stared at him, remembering Papa's ancient horror movies that we'd watch growing up together.

"Oh, I'm still an android. Just immune to that brat's technopathy, or your EMPs, so don't bother wasting your time with those." He waved his hand dismissively at me. I shifted uncomfortably, not liking how he seemed to know everything about me and what I could do.

"Fine, whatever. It doesn't matter." Still I kept on the brave face. "My father is going to come for me, and he will kill you again."

"Oh, he'll try." Marcus smiled again. Now that I knew who he was, his smile seemed a lot less charming and a lot more creepy. "But he didn't kill me the first time, and he won't kill me this time."

I was saved from having to come up with a response by the door to the dark room opening. Darius Moore walked in, hands shoved in his pockets. No, he was a part of this too?

He stared at me as he walked up, and I felt my stomach clench in dredge. "Where is she?" I questioned, before he could even open his mouth. "What did you do to Emily?"

Darius looked away as Marcus scoffed. "Oh, she's fine and safe with your family. Darius here forgot to take her."

"Forgot?" Another voice questioned. I tore my furious gaze away from Darius and Marcus to see two women and a young man enter the room. I recognized the first woman from the files we'd looked over with my parents and Calla: dark hair, dark eyes, and a fierce fury in her face. Lexi Krane, the one and only. The other woman looked more aboriginal in features and had shoulder length brown hair and a coldness to her eyes. She could only be Reese Steinberg, daughter of Roddiseus. The third was obviously Saturn, the villain still in his uniform. He was carrying a weapon I didn't quite recognize – it looked a bit like a sawed-off shotgun, but was silver and gold in appearance, with a compartment sitting on the top of it just below a small spyglass. "What do you mean, forgot?"

"I didn't forget." Darius shot Marcus an annoyed look. Marcus had turned away from me completely, no longer interested in taunting me, but Darius was keeping me in his line of sight. "I didn't have a good enough chance."

"She was unconscious." Marcus snapped incredulously.

"And I was surrounded by students!" Darius rolled his eyes. He looked at Reese, Lexi, and Saturn. "It would have blown my cover."

"And you think you're going to keep it now?" Reese questioned, gesturing to me. He sighed.

"I didn't think about that, alright?" He admitted. "I made a mistake."

"Yes, you did." Lexi growled. "Can't you do anything right?"

"You know, it might have been easier for us all to do our jobs if Marcus hadn't antagonized Kameron." Darius shot back. "It was just supposed to be Emily and Charlotte. That would have been easier."

"This job isn't supposed to be  _easy_." Lexi growled. "You're just supposed to do it. For once."

"I'm doing more than you are." Darius grumbled. He stumbled back suddenly, one hand reaching for his cheek. In a blur of super speed, Lexi had smack him across the face, her hand still raised when he stepped back.

"Excuse me?" She demanded. Darius dropped his gaze.

"Sorry, Mom. I'll do better next time." He mumbled half-heartedly. Lexi nodded.

"That's what I thought you said." She commented, still looking furious.

Reese sighed. "We need to be on our A-game, guys. Things need to go smoothly tonight if we're going to take out our biggest problem."

Lexi smile and turned to look at me, a cold malice in her eyes. "And we have the perfect bait."

**Ben's POV**

"And then the swarm went after me, while Lexi attacked Noah-"

"One minute she was there, and then they were both gone-"

"-and I woke up in an ambulance!"

The kids were all talking at once, tripping over each other in order to try and tell us what had happened and where things had gone wrong. Calla was trying to calm everyone down, to get them to go one at a time while she checked on Emily's head, but they were all too frantic to listen.

"HEY!" I called after another moment of it. The room instantly went silent, all the kids turning to look at me. "Breathe, everybody. Panicking won't help Charlotte. Okay?" I got an assortment of agreements. "Okay, seriously, everyone take a breath."

Calla shot me a grateful smile as I calmed the kids down. "Let me see." She murmured quietly to Emily, gently moving her daughter to sit on a stool so she could get a better look at the cut on her head. It had been cleaned and bandaged by a paramedic, but Calla was in overprotective-Mom mode.

"Okay, so Katherine and Leo will be down here in a couple of minutes, once they're done talking to the police." Naomi began, looking at everyone carefully. "And they're going to want to know what happened, so let's take things slow and get everything straight and easy to understand before they get down here, alright?"

"Victoria and Saturn started the attack alone by attacking the tents." Emily started. She frowned. "I went to get the paragun from Darius' tent-"

"You brought a paragun to a school trip? And what do you mean Darius' tent?" Calla looked at her sharply. Emily opened her mouth to respond, but Calla cut her off. "Actually, we can deal with that later. What happened then?"

"Emily was knocked out by a blast. Darius got her out of there and towards the front of the camp ground, where someone called 911." Kameron continued. "The rest of us split up to get the other students out safe and to fight Victoria and Saturn."

"Noah and I fought Victoria and Venus. I don't know when she got there, but she was." Kira added. Noah nodded in agreement.

"Kameron and I fought Saturn." Sera added.

"Charlotte meant to go find Matt, but that was the last we saw her." Noah finished. Calla nodded.

"Okay, that's good. We know where everyone was." She agreed. She stood up, satisfied with how much treatment Emily had gotten and rubbed her hands together. "Okay, first step, we track down Charlotte and Matt."

"How?" Emily twisted in her seat as Calla walked over to the main cyber computer.

"Facial recognition. If Lexi or the others took them anywhere outside or near cameras, we'll find them." She pulled a holo-keyboard up and began typing. A picture of Charlotte and Emily appeared on the screen, the photo taken from the Davenport Industries Christmas Gala from the previous year. "Okay, I've got images of Charlotte on here already. Does anyone have a photo of Matt? It'll be quicker than searching online for it."

"Uh, yeah." Emily unlatched her Davenwatch and handed it to her mother. "Mr. Perez made us take photos to go with our science fair booths. I have Darius and Matt's on there."

"Thanks. Which one is-" Calla broke off as she flipped to a picture of two boys. I recognized one as Emily's boyfriend, and, having never met Matt, had to assume the bored-looking teenager next to him was Matt. But Calla was staring at the photo with a mixture of horror, shock, sickness, and wonder. It was like she was looking at an actual ghost. "Oh, God."

"Calla?" Sera asked, tone laced with concern. "What's wrong?"

"This is Matt?" Calla's voice was weak with shock.

"Yeah, why?" Emily frowned. Suddenly, the hyperlift doors opened, and to our surprise, Calla quickly hid the Davenwatch behind her back, hiding the image.

"Please tell me you 'ave a lead." Katherine begged as she and Leo walked into the room. Both of them looked like they'd aged ten years since they'd gone to speak with the police, worry and fear evident all over their faces. Katherine looked at Calla, taking in the genuinely scared look on the genius' face. "Ya found somethin'."

"I did." Calla confirmed, her gaze darting between Leo and Katherine. She took a deep breath to steady herself, then addressed the couple, cautious eyes examining Leo. "But I need you to stay calm."

"What did you find?" Leo demanded, staring at her. Calla bit her lip, and I knew whatever it was, it was bad. Really bad.

"I need you to stay calm." She repeated, her slow, soothing nature of her tone clearly forced. "Okay? You need to stay calm." She glanced at Katherine, a pleading look in her eyes. Katherine frowned, but seemed to understand what Calla was trying to convey.

"Leo, she's right." She said. Leo glanced at her, then at Calla.

"What's wrong?" He demanded, tone raising a bit. Calla gulped.

"I know who has your daughter." She admitted, and Leo and Katherine both stared at her. "And you're not going to like it, at all, but I need you to try and stay calm because freaking out won't help us get her back, okay?" She gave him a steely look. "And we  _will_ get her back, I promise."

Leo took a moment, taking in what she said, then nodded. "Okay. Who has Charlotte?"

" _I do."_  Suddenly, the holoscreen on the cyber computer burst to life, a holographic image of Matt shining up from the center of it. He looked around, and smirked.  _"Boy, does this take me back. Nice place you've got here, Calla. So much nicer than the lab Douglas and Krane blew up."_

"Marcus?!" Leo had to restrain himself from screaming the name. Naomi and I exchanged looks; of course we knew who Marcus was, but I'd always been told that he'd been killed by Calla right before the Elite Force was founded. Judging by Naomi's confused frown, she'd been told the same thing. The kids, of course, were all baffled, having no idea why Leo seemed to know their schoolmate.

"How are you…" Katherine looked equally shocked. Marcus/Matt laughed at the looks on our faces.

" _Leo, good to see you again. Katherine, nice to finally see the woman crazy enough to marry Dooley over there."_  Marcus smiled, sounding almost fond of the couple.  _"I've just been spending some time with your little girl. Sweet kid, but about as naïve as every other bionic superhuman I've ever met. Good kisser though."_

That shook Leo out of his shock. He stepped towards the hologram, a menacing look on his face. "I don't know how you're back, Marcus, but if you've laid  _one finger_  on her…"

Marcus rolled his eyes.  _"Oh, relax, Leo. She's fine. And besides, this isn't about her."_

"Then what's it about?" Calla crossed her arms. Marcus smiled.

" _Ah, Calla. Always straight to the point. That always annoyed me about you."_  He commented.  _"This is about you,"_  he pointed at her,  _"and you."_  He pointed to Leo.  _"And how I never got to kill you."_

"What, because I beat you to the punch?" Calla asked, raising her chin, a smug smirk on her face. "I have to admit, Marcus, melting you was one of the best parts of my life. Shame it didn't stick."

"Ah, that's okay. It just gives me the chance to do it myself." Leo quipped, crossing his arms. "Let Charlotte go, and I promise I won't draw it out too long, Marcus."

" _Oh, that's cute."_  Marcus smirked. He opened his mouth to taunt Leo some more, but Katherine wasn't having it.

"Cut the crap, Marcus. Where's ma daughter?" She demanded, slamming one hand down on the cyber computer's table.

" _She's safe."_  He promised again, giving Katherine an appraising look.  _"And you can have her back."_

"What's the catch?" I questioned, clearing my throat. Marcus' eyes raised to me. He looked me over, curiosity in his eyes.

" _Simple. Calla and Leo have to meet me, in person. You can come too, Kathy. I don't mind killing all of you."_  He mentioned.

"Katherine." Katherine corrected. "And what makes ya think you're gonna be one doin' the killin'?"

" _Oh."_  Marcus smiled coyly.  _"Feisty. I see why you like her, Leo."_

"How do we know you won't double cross us?" Leo questioned, ignoring his comment. Marcus smiled.

" _You don't, but you don't have another choice, now do you?"_  He asked, crossing his arms. Suddenly, Calla and Leo's Davenwatches beeped.  _"I just sent you coordinates. Meet me there in an hour, and I'll have my associates release little Charlotte. All you've got to do is show up."_

Before anyone else could get a word in, Marcus disappeared. Leo stared at where his hologram had been for a long moment, before looking back at Calla. "How long have you known?"

"About thirty seconds before you came downstairs." She told him before looking at all of us. "So Matt is Marcus, huh?"

"We had no idea who Marcus was." Kira explained. She frowned. "Actually, I still don't know who Marcus is."

"He's an old enemy of the Davenports, an android built by…" Calla hesitated, glancing at Leo, before continuing, "…by Douglas Davenport back when he was our enemy. We defeated Marcus a few times, and we killed him the last time…I don't understand how he's back."

"Giselle? She's the last one who was in control of him." Katherine suggested. Calla frowned.

"Maybe." She hummed thoughtfully.

"It doesn't matter how he's back." Leo told them roughly. "What matters is that we stop him."

Naomi stared at him. "You do realize it's a trap, don't you?" She asked, her tone soft. "If you go to meet him, there's no way you walk out of there alive. He's probably got Lexi, Reese, Saturn, and who knows who else waiting for you."

"Well, of course it's a trap." Calla rolled her eyes.

"And you're just going to walk into it?" Kameron asked, looking at her in confusion. Calla shook her head.

"MISS, I assume you were tracking wherever Marcus was broadcasting from?" She asked, raising her eyes to the ceiling and crossing her arms.

" _Of course, Calla. I currently have a lock on the IP address, but I'm still trying to narrow down the physical coordinates due to a number of firewalls and a large sum of bots designed to interfere with my tracking protocols._ " The AI explained.  _"It might take some time."_

"How much time are we talking about?" Leo questioned, looking impatient.

" _104 minutes and 23 seconds, Leo_." MISS replied. Emily perked up at that.

"I can cut that in half, easy." She stood up and walked over to the cyber computer. She placed one hand on the cyber computer, and, with the other hand, raised the holo-keyboard again and began typing. "I can boost MISS' processing speed and help out by bypassing whatever bots get in our way."

"You're hurt." Calla didn't sound like she was arguing with her daughter, but did seem reluctant to let her help right now. I could see that she was torn between what to do.

Emily gave her mom a reassuring smile. "I've got this." She told her before looking over her shoulder at Leo and Katherine. "I'll find her, I promise."

"Good girl." Katherine smiled at her affectionately. She turned to Calla and Leo. "What's the plan? We ain't gonna fight 'im, are we?"

"Actually, we are." Calla crossed her arms, smirking. She turned to the rest of us. "We're going to go after Marcus, and you're going to go after Charlotte. If he's got a trap waiting for us, then whatever security they've got watching Charlotte will be minimal. Your job is to get her out safely."

"Wait, you're actually going to fight him?" Noah demanded, eyes wide. Emily paused briefly in her work to look at her mom, concerned.

"Katherine and I are, that is." Leo corrected. He gave us all a calm look. "Don't worry – Marcus always did underestimate us, even before I had bionics. He won't be strong enough to take on the two of us, let alone the squad of agents Miles is going to lend us once I call him."

"Two of you?" Calla repeated, frowning. She turned to Leo, hands on her hips. "And why won't I be helping to kick his ass?"

"Because of that." Leo gestured at her stomach, where a small bump had started to appear in the last couple of weeks. Calla dropped one hand to it protectively. "Chase would never forgive me if you or Mini-Challa II got hurt saving my daughter."

"And I'd never forgive myself if I don't help save my niece." Calla retorted. She smirked playfully for a second. "Besides, you're just worried that I'm going to steal your thunder and kill Marcus before you again."

"I'm serious." Leo crossed his arms. Calla nodded.

"So am I. I'm not sitting on the sidelines. And Marcus specifically asked for me too. He won't be satisfied with just you." She told him. She nodded to herself. "I'll stick at a distance though; he doesn't know about my proton disks, hopefully, and we can use that to our advantage."

"It's decided." Katherine nodded. She put her hand on Calla's arm. "Thank you."

"Always." Calla gave her a smile before turning back to us. "Okay, we have approximately 54 minutes until we have to meet Marcus. That gives you nearly an hour to find Charlotte's location and prepare to storm the place, okay?"

"I'm gonna call Miles, let 'im know we need his help." Katherine decided, pulling out her Davenwatch and heading upstairs for a better signal.

"Does everyone understand the plan?" Calla questioned, looking around. We all nodded and she smiled. "Good. Em, scoot over. I'm going to shave some time off by getting rid of a few bots myself."

"Ben, Naomi, a word?" Leo looked at us, then nodded towards one of the underground tunnels. We obediently followed him into the hall, where no one else could hear us. "I'm not totally comfortable for this."

"We'll save her, Leo." Naomi promised him. He nodded, but the worry on his face didn't lessen.

"It's not just that, Naomi. Ben is the only one here with a lot of experience as a hero. The rest of you have only been doing this for a couple of months now, and there haven't been that many missions. Anything can go wrong." He sighed. He looked at me. "As worried as I am about saving Charlotte, you're taking a group of unexperienced teenagers to raid a base we no next to nothing about."

"And it's going to be fine." I promised him. "We'll make sure everyone gets out in one piece, including Charlotte. I'll make sure of it."

Leo nodded. "Good." He nodded to himself. "Matt is Marcus. That's…" He shook himself, as if that could erase the fact that his daughter had definitely kissed Marcus. "She is never dating again."

**Charlotte's POV**

After about thirty minutes of trying and failing to break out of the cell they'd locked me in (including burning my hand at least twice), I dropped to my knees in despair and frustration. There had to be a way out of here? Why couldn't I find it?

"Hey, I-er, I thought you might be hungry." I didn't look up as Darius approached. Marcus had left ages ago, after cruelly letting me know that he'd tell my parents I said 'hi', and since then I'd basically been left alone. Frankly, I preferred alone over Darius' presence right now, even after he slipped a sandwich under the bars. "C'mon Char, I know grilled cheese is your favorite."

"What are they going to do to me?" I whispered suddenly. I looked up and found that Darius could not meet my gaze. I swallowed and repeated my question, louder this time. "When they don't need me for bait anymore, what are they going to do to me?"

"I don't know." He lied, his voice rough. A wave of fear crashed into me.

"They're going to kill me." I realized, sick to my stomach. Darius didn't answer. "Right after Marcus kills my parents, right? I mean, that's where he's gone, right?"

Darius looked at me then, guilt-ridden brown eyes staring into mine. "I'm sorry, Charlotte."

I scoffed, feeling both hurt and angry at the same time. "Not sorry enough to save me though, right?"

He sighed. "I can't do that, and you know it."

"Oh, right. Because your Mommy told you not to." I rolled my eyes. He glared at me.

"Do you think I wanted this?" He hissed, stepping as close as he dared to the bars. "Do you think I want to see you or any of your friends get hurt over this?"

"If you don't want to be a part of this, why help them?" I demanded. He shook his head.

"Family's complicated." He said simply.

"Not this complicated." I shook my head. I looked him over for a moment, noting the bags under his eyes and the bruise forming on his cheek. "And family doesn't treat each other the way your mom treats you, Darius. You must know that."

He gave me a look. "Look, I'll see if I can talk her into just locking you up until this whole thing is over instead of killing you, okay?" He offered, ignoring my comment.

"That's your heroic solution? Wow, I totally forgive you now." I stared at him. He sighed. "That's not okay, Darius."

"Yeah, but it's better than being dead." He commented, shaking his head as he headed for the door.

"Why'd you save Emily?" I called after him. He paused by the door. "You didn't have to, but you did, even knowing how pissed your mom would be. Why?"

He turned around slowly, opening his mouth to reply, but stopped suddenly. Just in time too, as it turns out, as his mother, Reese, and Saturn walked in just then.

"Discordia and Mars say we have company." Saturn was saying to Lexi. He shot Reese a look. "They aren't happy about being put on recon again, especially Discordia."

"She'll get over it. We all have our parts to play." Reese waved her hand dismissively. She glanced at Darius, then smirked at Lexi. "And at least my kid knows how to follow orders."

"Where have you been?" Lexi questioned, looking between Darius and I. "Is there a problem here?"

"No, I was just checking to make sure she was secure. We don't want her escaping and getting back to her friends." Darius lied with ease, shrugging nonchalantly. Lexi looked at him for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully.

"No, we don't." She agreed slowly, tone cautious. She sighed. "Go get ready. We should have company soon."

"Got it." Darius nodded, shooting me one last glance as he walked away. I stood up, brow furrowed. "Company?" I repeated, looking at her sharply. "I thought Marcus left to go meet my parents?"

"He did. He should be meeting with them and the S.H.I.R.T. team they've likely 'secretly' enlisted any minute now." Lexi commented, crossing her arms. I frowned and she smiled, pleased at my confusion.

"Then what's with the 'company' that you're preparing for? I thought this was supposed to be a trap?" I demanded. Reese laughed a little, drawing my attention over to her. She handed Saturn a small, gold tube before turning to smirk cockily at me.

"Who said the trap was for your parents?" She asked teasingly.

**Kameron's POV**

I looked up at the building uncertainly, trying to see something through the windows that would reassure me that we were in the right place. Emily had tracked the signal back to a small, four floor apartment building. From what we could tell, it was supposed to be abandoned and condemned after a particularly bad rodent infestation. "This  _is_  where the signal came from. MISS and I triple checked." Emily insisted, though she seemed a little hesitant about it. "I don't think I made a mistake…"

"You didn't. Like you said, you both checked three times. If you made a mistake, you would have caught it." Naomi assured her. She looked at the rest of us. "This is the place; it has to be."

"I agree." Ben nodded, turning back to us. "Alright, Calla, Leo, and Katherine are buying us some time by going after Marcus, but it's not a lot. We can't waste it, understood?"

We all nodded in understanding. Calla, Leo, and Katherine were taking one hell of a risk in order to save Charlotte, and we had to make sure it was worth it. We had to save her. "What's the plan?" Noah questioned, looking more serious than I'd ever seen him.

"Alright, so I looked over the building plans on the way here." Naomi announced, tapping her Davenwatch to have a holographic version of the map pop up. "Noah, Kira, you two are going to go in through the back entrance, by the dumpsters. Ideally, they shouldn't be watching that entrance because it's supposed to be blocked off. Kira, I'm sure you can handle that?"

"Easy. Why's it blocked off?" She questioned, cocking her head to the side. Naomi hesitated.

"It's, uh, where the rodent infestation started…sorry." Naomi sent Kira and Noah an apologetic look. He grimaced inwardly, but Kira outright grinned.

"Cool." She decided. We all looked at her. "Hey, I'm looking at the silver lining. Someone on this team has to the optimist."

"And rats are your definition of a silver lining?" Emily questioned. Kira blinked.

"Yes." She insisted. Emily narrowed her eyes at the pyrokinetic for a moment, then turned her attention back to Naomi.

"Moving on," Naomi continued, "Emily, you and Sera are going to be going in through the far-left room at the back. Unlike Noah and Kire, who're gonna end up in the basement, this should bring you onto the main floor. Start looking there and work your way up."

"We've got it." Sera promised, nodding seriously.

"I'll take the front entrance." Ben offered, pointing it out on the map. Emily frowned.

"Won't they be expecting someone to try the front door? That's where a tactical team would storm in from." She commented. He nodded.

"That's the point. If anyone's left inside, I could try and draw their fire." He explained. Naomi nodded.

"That leaves you and me to take the roof entrance. Think you can fly us up there?" She looked at me pointedly.

"Uh, yeah. I can do that." He nodded, feeling nervous. Normally, I would have made a joke out of asking how much she weighed or something else stupid and only half-funny, but tonight I was just…there was only one thing that mattered, and that was saving Charlotte.

"Alright, guys." Ben looked around at us. "So, hopefully most of Marcus' team went with him to go after Calla, Leo, and Katherine, so ideally the place is next to empty, but don't assume that it will be. We have no idea who or what is in there waiting for us." He reminded us. "Be on your guard, and if you run into any trouble, you radio it on over the comms. Clear?"

"Clear." One by one, we all agreed. Ben nodded and looked at Naomi.

"Alright boss. On your mark." He told her, smiling confidently. I nodded to myself; if Ben and Kira could see so confident about how things were going to turn out, then things would work out for us. This was going to work.

It had to.

**Ben's POV**

Despite the fact that I was expecting to be attacked the moment I burst through the front door (knocking it down wasn't exactly the quietest method of entry I could have tried), the front entrance to the apartment building was completely empty, save for a few coats hanging on coat hooks.

"So far I've got nothing, but look alive people - someone's definitely been living here, and I'm pretty sure they're not squatters." I commented into my comms.

 _"Be careful everyone."_  Naomi said in reply, her tone determined.  _"We get Charlotte and we get out of here - we're not looking to stick around for a fight."_

 _"Too late."_  I stopped at the sound of Sera's voice.  _"We just found Jupiter."_

In the background, I could hear the sound of blaster shots, coming from the weapon Emily had taken from Mission Command before we left.

 _"Do you need backup?"_  Noah demanded.

 _"Two against one."_  Came Emily's breathless reply. I continued moving across the floor, heading past what used to be a doorman's desk and up the stairs to start searching the second floor.  _"We've got this."_

 _"Don't be cocky, ask for help if you need it."_  Naomi commented worriedly.

 _"We've got this."_  Emily repeated before the sounds of blaster fire continued. I could hear it echoing below me, coming from the basement. A part of me wanted to rush down to help, but I knew that if things started to go sideways, both girls were smart enough to ask for help from one of us. And Noah would be able to be down there in a second.

Coming across the first room, I found that it had probably been used as a makeshift kitchen, judging by the garbage can full of paper plates and red solo cups. But the room had been cleared out of everything important.

They must have known we'd be coming for Charlotte, I realized. And if they knew we were here...

 _"Hey!"_  I heard Noah's sudden, surprised shout.  _"Catastrophe!"_

 _"Bring it, big ugly!"_  I heard Kira shout in the background.

 _"We might need some backup."_  Noah commented, sounding uncertain.

 _"We have problems of our own!"_  Kameron snarled back, voice strained.

"Naomi?" I demanded, the sound of blaster fire now coming from above me. "Naomi, come in!"

 _"Sorry!"_  She sounded breathless, but unhurt.  _"Kinda got a problem. Two actually - Lexi and Reese."_

 _"I thought this place was supposed to be empty!"_  Kira snapped. I let out a breath.

"Kira, Noah, I'm on my way." I told them, turning back to head down to their floor. Naomi and Kameron were fighting two enemies, but Catastrophe was significantly more dangerous than both Reese and Lexi, and I knew Naomi and Kameron could hold their own in a fight. I started to run down the stairs, then noticed that there was light coming from one of the rooms. I hesitated - it was the only light on in the entire building, as far as I could tell. "Actually, hold that thought."

I carefully made my way to the door, being very careful not to make a noise. Looking through the crack, it just looked like the living room of any other apartment, minus the furnishings, but aside from that, there was nothing special about it. Still...

I pushed open the door, revealing a small, bionic-capsule sized cell in the middle of the room. Standing between the blue, glowing bars was Charlotte, looking scared but thankfully unharmed. Her eyes widened as I stepped inside. "Ben!" She cried, smiling fading almost immediately. "Behind you!"

I spun around just in time to catch Saturn by the arm, his fist inches away from my face. I didn't hesitate before trying to elbow him in the face, but he was quick and twisted out of my grip in time to avoid the blow. He danced away from me, smiling cockily.

"Almost had you, blondie." He mocked. I raised my hands, clenching my fists.

"Not a chance, sparky." I snapped back.

"It's a trap!" Charlotte told me from behind. "They're not going after my Mama and Papa, they're going after you guys!"

"And we'll win." Saturn agreed. He raised his hand and a blast of electricity shot out at me. I lunged to the side, just narrowly avoiding it, and quickly hit my comms.

"Guys, get out of here, now! Don't try and win, just bail!" I ordered. As expected, all I heard back was a variety of protests and the sounds of various battles taking place. "I've got Charlotte with me! The rest of you, out, NOW!"

I didn't wait for their responses this time. I slammed my hands into the ground from where I was kneeling and felt the waves of an earthquake spread out from them. A rumbling sound filled the entire room as it began to shake. Saturn took a moment to try and regain as much of his balance as I could, then raised his hand and shot another blast of electricity at me. But, thanks to quake, his aim was off and he ended up hitting the wall instead.

Before he could prepare another blast, I tackled him, slamming him to the ground. He tried to struggle, but I took care of it with one quick punch to the face. Immediately, he went limp, head rolling across the floor.

I stepped away from him, breathing heavy, before looking back up at Charlotte. She was staring at us, wide-eyed. "Charlotte," I said, rushing over to her. I looked around, looking for a way to deactivate the cage. "Emily," I demanded, reaching for my comms. "I'm looking at a power-blocking cells. The bars are the same as the ones at UPSEI. You in a position to help us out with that?"

 _"Give me a sec!"_  The genius responded. I heard the sounds of blaster fire cease.  _"Okay, Sera and I are out. Second floor, right? First door on the right?"_

"That's the one." I replied. A moment later, the bars flickered and disappeared. "Good girl, Emily. I'll see you s-" I was cut off by Charlotte's arms suddenly around my neck, the younger girl shaking. "Hey, it's okay."

"Thank you." She whimpered into my shoulder. "I thought they were going to..."

"Hey, it's okay. You're okay." I pulled away and gripped her shoulders, forcing her to look me in the eye. "Now, let's get out of here, shall we?"

She nodded, smiling a little. Then, I saw her eyes widen and she opened her mouth to say something. Whatever she said, I never did hear it, as a searing, blinding pain slashed across my left side.

"Ah!" I cried out, the sudden shock to my system dropping me to my knees. I turned around to see Saturn leaning on one arm, with a strange looking gun in his hand.

"Gotcha." He smiled, smoke pouring out of the barrel of the gun.

**Charlotte's POV**

"Gotcha." Saturn smirked at us, holding the gun with a look of pride on his face, while Ben was bent over in pain. He was gripping my arm tight enough to leave bruises, his face pale and eyes screwed shut.

I looked away from Ben's face to see Saturn struggling to get up, the gun still in his hands, and it was like he had lit a match inside of me. I lifted the arm that Ben wasn't holding, an energy sphere about the size of a basketball forming in my palm before I'd even aimed, bigger than any I'd ever created.

I flung it at Saturn with as much strength as I could manage, before he could react. He dropped the gun as he dived to avoid it, a smart move given how big a crack the energy sphere left in the wall where it hit. He pushed himself up on his elbows, scrambling for another weapon. I raised my hand, preparing another energy sphere, but they took time to create, and he had managed to pull another gun out from his side holster.

Ben got there first though, pushing himself back to his feet and lunging at Saturn in an unusually clumsy movement. He kicked the villain in the head hard enough to knock him out, this time hopefully for a much longer time.

Ben stumbled, catching himself on the wall with one hand while the other stayed firmly pressed to his side. He glanced over at me, breathing heavy. "Are you alright?" He questioned breathlessly.

"Am I...are you alright?" I questioned, quickly reaching for him. He nodded, wincing. "No, Ben, you're..." I gently pried his fingers away from where he'd been hit, then froze. "I thought you were bulletproof."

"I am." He managed through gritted teeth. I bit my lip, staring at him.

"Then how are you bleeding?" I asked, returning his hand to his side before pressing on it myself. He bit back a groan and shook his head.

"Don't know." He grimaced again, jerking his head to the side. "Ugh, Naomi."

I frowned, then noticed the comm set in his ear. I reached up, pulled it out, and put it in my own ear, immediately hearing Naomi's concerned shouting come over the system _. "Ben, we're out, but what the hell was that? Do you have Charlotte? I repeat, what the hell was th-"_

"Naomi!" I called, cutting her off mid-question. "Meet us at Mighty Med!"

 _"Charlotte?"_  Kameron demanded. I could hear the other's in the background, asking questions, but his voice was louder than the rest.  _"Are you okay?"_

"Mighty Med." I repeated firmly before shutting off the comm. Ben's face had grown paler, if not a little green. "Can you walk?"

"I'm freaking Aftershock; of course I can walk." He grumbled, pushing away from the wall. He suddenly swayed and I ducked under his arm, wrapping one of mine around his waist. I wasn't the ideal crutch - he was nearly a foot taller than me - but it worked. "Thanks."

Suddenly, I heard the sound of footsteps. "We need to get out of here." I whispered, knowing that Lexi and the others would be up here soon enough.

"No shit." Ben snapped. I didn't respond, instead helping him walk without a word, stopping briefly to pick up Saturn's weapon before reaching the window. There was a fire escape just within reach that thankfully led to the back of the building. I carefully opened the window and started helping Ben through, until I heard the click of a gun.

Turning, I saw Darius standing at the door, the gun in his hands trained on us. "Blast him." I heard Ben mumble. I hesitated, as did Darius.

"They'll kill us." I whispered shakily. I could see the conflict in Darius' eyes as he tried to figure out what to do. I wouldn't exactly call him an ally right now, but at the same time I could tell he wasn't evil - or at the very least, he wasn't a killer. "Please."

He worked his jaw in frustration, then sighed. "Next time, I shoot." He warned, lowering his weapon. I nodded shakily, pushing Ben the rest of the way out the window and onto the fire escape.

"C'mon." I pushed him forward, feeling my heart racing a million miles an hour.

**Kameron's POV**

"Here." I knelt down next to Charlotte and offered her the Styrofoam cup I'd hunted down for her. She glanced at it, uninterested. "It's hot cocoa."

"No thanks." She replied quietly. I frowned, placing the cup on the table beside her. "Any word on Ben?"

"Not yet, but he'll be fine. Saturn just got lucky, is all." I assured her. She nodded quietly. "Hey." I placed my hand on her knee. She looked at me, eyes wide. "You're safe now."

"I know." She smiled gratefully and gave my hand a squeeze. "Thank you."

"No problem." I replied, just as the doors to the hospital opened up. I saw Leo and Katherine practically run in and stop, searching. Noah raised his hand to get their attention, and I backed away just in time for Charlotte to be enveloped in a massive hug from both her parents.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." She murmured, even as she held on tight to them. Leo was the first to pull away, still holding her arms but looking her over for injuries.

"Did he hurt you? Did he lay a hand on you?" He demanded, eyes blazing. Charlotte shook her head. "Are you sure?"

"He just locked me up, Papa." She promised him. Calla and AJ arrived just then, relieved looks on both of their faces. Calla looked around at us, quickly doing a headcount, and I could see the worry return to her face. We must have looked like a sorry bunch - we were all a bit of a mess, in different ways. Upon hearing about Darius' role in all of this, Emily had retreated to a chair in the corner of the room and hadn't move or said anything since. Naomi was pacing anxiously around the room, occasionally looking at the door as if she could magically force him to be alright. Kira and Noah both looked like they'd been in some sort of explosion, with their hair a mess and their faces scratched up. Sera was sitting next to Charlotte almost protectively, glaring at anyone who came near the girl without permission.

"What happened with Marcus?" Sera asked, looking over at Leo, Katherine, and Calla. That drew most of our attentions, aside from Naomi, who had spared Calla, Leo, and Katherine just long enough a glance to tell that they were alright before continuing her pacing. "Did you fight him? Did you beat him?"

"Not exactly." Calla sighed, shaking her head. "Bastard decided to try and take us out sniper style."

"That was nice thinkin' with the portable shield thing." Katherine complimented, glancing at Calla. Noah looked at her, frowning.

"You have a portable shield?" He questioned. She nodded, tapping at her Davenwatch half-heartedly.

"Your uncle gave me the idea years ago." She said by way of explanation. "It was a stupid plan; Marcus never should have thought it would work."

"That's because it wasn't a trap for you. He was just the distraction." Charlotte supplied. Calla looked at her, gaze softening. "The trap was for them." Charlotte gestured at the rest of us. "Or Ben, at least."

"How is Ben?" AJ asked, looking around at us. None of had an answer to give him yet. With Charlotte's help, Ben had managed to get to the hospital before collapsing. Horace had rushed him into the back, but that was nearly fifty minutes ago, and we still had yet to hear a word on our friend's condition. "I don't understand; he's invulnerable. How could Saturn shoot him?"

"I gave the weapon Saturn used to Horace." Charlotte offered, trying to be helpful. She shook her head. "I should have stopped him."

"There was nothin' you could 'ave done." Katherine told her gently, giving her another side hug.

"What happened?" Leo questioned, looking around at all of us.

"They were waiting for us." Kira explained, eyes wide, her knee bouncing restlessly. "Lexi, Reese, Catastrophe, Saturn, Darius, Jupiter..."

"Darius?" Calla repeated, heading whipping towards Emily. Her daughter nodded silently, eyes just a little too wide. "He's working with them?"

"He's Lexi's son." Seraphina added, giving Emily a sympathetic look. Calla stared at her, processing the information in shock.

"We fought them, basically got our asses handed to us...Ben told us to get out of there, that is was a trap." Noah continued, arms crossed. "He went to get Charlotte, and Saturn..." he mimed a shooting action. "Then we all met up here."

"Lexi's son." Calla whispered, shaking her head. She looked at Leo, eyes turning cold. She looked like she wanted to kill Darius from here. "He's one of them."

"What are we going to do about him and Marcus?" Leo questioned, looking almost as pissed off as Calla. Before she could respond, the doors to our left opened and Horace swept into the room. I stood up, taking in the grim look on his face. Something was wrong, very wrong.

"We have more pressing issues to discuss." He told us, tone hard.


	12. Poisoned

**Naomi's POV**

"It's bad." Leo wasn't asking a question when he spoke, frowning at Horace. Calla, Leo, and I were standing in Horace's office, all gathered around his desk. Katherine and AJ had stayed behind to keep an eye on the kids – they were all already a mess after today, without getting the details of Ben's condition.

Horace's expression was grim, his jaw set. "Saturn shot a series of pellets into Aftershock that were made of gold infused with delta radiation." He explained. Calla and Leo nodded thoughtfully, but I frowned, confused. I knew Ben had a weakness to gold, but I wasn't sure about the delta radiation. "It's a physical manifestation of Gargulon Gas."

"Oh god." My stomach sank when I heard those words. I hadn't realized how Gargulon Gas was made, but I definitely knew how bad it was for Ben to have in his system.

"I'm sorry, you had me until you said that last bit." Leo frowned, looking confused. "Radiation is bad, but what's Gargulon Gas?"

"It was basically Tecton's biggest weakness." I supplied for Horace. "It's like poison to Ben."

Calla looked at me for a moment, eyebrows raised before she turned to Horace. "What are you doing for him? I assume there's a cure?"

Horace shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid not, and we can't remove all the gold fragments. Most of them are too small for us to safely remove."

"What's his prognosis?" Calla said in a monotone, the look in her eyes telling me she already knew the answer. Horace sighed deeply.

"We have a treatment that will make him comfortable, reduce the symptoms for a while, but…I'm afraid that he won't recover from this. I give him 24 hours, 30 at the most." Horace said gently. He glanced at Calla. "Someone should notify his mother."

"I-I'll call Geminus, get in touch." Calla promised, seeming shaken. I looked at her in despair, then turned back to Horace.

"No! There…there has to be something you can do." I pleaded with Horace. I didn't realize I was shaking, not until I felt Leo put his hand on my arm to steady me. "Please, Horace, he can't…there's got to be something."

Horace gave me a sympathetic look. "We searched for a cure during Tecton's first few years as a hero, but Gargulon Gas isn't naturally occurring on Earth. It wasn't as if the problem came up fairly often. I'm sorry, but we never found a cure."

Leo looked over at me, then at Horace. "Then I guess we're just going to have to find one."

**Calla's POV**

"Alright, so here is every comic book on Tecton that Centium City has to offer." AJ announced, wheeling a dolly filled with comics into the penthouse. Noah frowned at the sight of them.

"Paper copies?" He questioned. AJ shrugged.

"Not many of the pre-2020 comics got digitalized, let alone the 1997 ones from when Tecton first started superheroing." AJ explained as I started handing out piles of comics.

"Katherine and Naomi are gonna stay at the hospital and go over Ben's medical history and see if there's anything in the medical texts there." I explained as the kids all settled around the room. "But here's what we're trying to do: we can't remove the gold, so we need to find a way to negate the effects of Gargulon gas."

Sera raised her hand. "But if Ben's also weak to gold, won't he still…" she stopped herself when she realized what she was about to say, her face turning red with emotion. I glanced at Leo, then turned back to the kids.

"Ben does have a weakness to gold, and without the gas, it does make him sick," I acknowledged, "but if we can neutralize the gas particles, then he should be able to recover from it."

"If we have to figure out a way to help him with the gold, we will." Leo promised. "But for now, let's focus on getting rid of the Gargulon gas."

"We're on it." Kameron assured us before taking his pile of comics and heading for the table. Seraphina leaned back in the couch, examining each page with care. Kira dropped into the arm chair next to her, legs hanging over the arm of it as she buried herself in her comic, while Noah took the larger graphic novels to the table to join Kameron. AJ moved to the kitchen counter, where he'd pulled out his holocomputer to do his own kind of research; while the kids studied superhero history, we'd be looking at human solutions to the problem. One of us had to find something.

Leo knelt down next to the couch, where Charlotte had lied down on her stomach to get comfortable as she researched. "Hey, honey, listen. We have a lot of help here-"

"I'm not going home." Charlotte didn't look up from her comic. Leo sighed.

"No one would blame you. You need to get some rest." He told her, gently. I looked the girl over, taking in her messy hair, the dark bags under her eyes, and the way her feet were bouncing anxiously against the arm of the couch.

Charlotte bit her lip, then shook her head, tears creeping into the corners of her eyes. "He was saving  _my_  life." She insisted, not looking at Leo or I. "He walked into that trap because of  _me_. I have to help."

"Charlie," Leo gave her a look. Charlotte met his gaze, fierce determinism in her eyes.

"I have to help." She repeated, her tone leaving no room for argument. Leo sighed, then nodded.

"Fine." He agreed reluctantly, sitting down on the ground and swiping his holocomputer off the coffee table. "Then I am doing my research right here."

I smiled thinly at that, then looked around, realizing with a pang of guilt that with everything going on, I hadn't checked in on Emily yet. I spotted my daughter sitting at the desk by the window, a pile of comics placed on her left. I walked over to the window, but she didn't seem to notice me. I frowned at that – she was normally very observant. And more outspoken. She'd barely said a word since the hospital, clearly too lost in her thoughts to contribute much to the conversation. As it was, even though I could tell that she was trying to concentrate on the comics in front of her, every few seconds, I would see her eyes lose their focus for a moment before she'd shake herself and get back to it.

"Hey." I placed my hand on the desk, getting her attention. She looked up at me with tired eyes, and I nodded at the veranda. "Let's do our stuff outside, yeah?"

"Okay." She agreed, obediently grabbing her stuff and followed me outside. I sat down on one of the outdoor chairs as she piled the comics onto the side table, and I turned around to face her.

"We need to talk about Darius." I told her. She looked up at me sharply, her eyes wide. "Emmy-"

"No." She said quickly, brushing her hair behind her ear as she sat down.

"Pardon?" I questioned, frowning. She looked up at me.

"I don't want to talk about him." She insisted, giving me a cold look. I raised my chin. "I'm serious, Mom. Not right now."

"Yes, right now." I replied. This conversation was going to have to happen eventually, anyway, and she wasn't going to focus until it was had. "Emily-"

"He didn't shoot Charlotte and Ben." She stated, crossing her arms so tightly that I worried for a moment that she might hurt herself. I sighed. "He could have and he didn't."

"That doesn't mean he's a good guy." I said slowly, cautiously. I could see the conflict in her eyes.

"But it doesn't mean he's a bad guy, either." She told me. I leaned back a little, observing her. She liked him, a lot, that much was obvious. And that I could understand; both Chase and I had a weakness for caring too much and falling too hard, too fast. I'd been the same way with Caleb, then with Chase, and even though Chase was and still is my soulmate, that love had led to a lot of dumb and dangerous decisions in our first few years together. I was worried that Emily would follow suit, if I didn't stop this before it turned into something stronger than just 'like'.

"He used you, honey. Flirting with you, asking you out, it was all part of his plan." I murmured, trying to be gentle. Her eyes darted to the side and she blinked fast, trying not to cry. "People like him, like his father," Even without physical proof, I was fairly certain of who Darius' father was, "like Marcus, they use people. The people they claim to care about, they're just a means to an end."

"I…you didn't see how he looked at me, Mom." She whimpered. I nodded.

"It must have been pretty great." I acknowledged. "But sweetie, it wasn't real. How he felt, it wasn't real."

She turned and dropped next to me on the chair. "It was for me." She whispered, breaking my heart a little.

"Oh, honey." I murmured, pulling her into a hug. She dropped her head onto my shoulder, shaking a little as she tried not to cry. I mentally cursed Marcus, Sebastian, Darius, and anyone who dared to betray us. I'd learned a long time ago to be careful of who we trusted, but it was a lesson I'd hoped that Emily would never have to learn, at least not the way we'd all learned it. "I know it hurts. I know."

"I thought he cared about me. I thought…" She sniffed deeply. I sighed and pressed my lips to her forehead.

"I know. He's a good liar, like the rest of his family." I murmured. She nodded sadly and I pulled away. "I know that it hurts, honey. And if you want to be angry, or sad, or whatever else you're feeling, that's okay."

"But…" She sniffed and looked over at me. When I didn't respond, she gave me a look. "There's always a but."

"I need you to try and focus on this." I put my hand on the comics. "If you can't, I get it. But I do need you to try."

"Ben needs me to try." She corrected with another sniff. I pressed my lips together but didn't respond. She nodded to herself. "Okay. I'll try."

"That's my girl." I kissed her forehead proudly. "And when this is all over, I am going to teach you the art of break-up ice cream."

Emily frowned. "There's an art to it?" She asked skeptically. I nodded and despite herself, Emily smiled a tiny bit.

"The way I do it, there is." I promised.

**Naomi's POV**

I pinched the bridge of my nose, fighting back the urge to yawn. It had been almost fourteen hours since we'd gone on that butchered rescue mission for Charlotte, making it about 3 in the afternoon. Between the lack of sleep, the rescue, and my slight jet lag from my trip to California, I felt completely and utterly drained. But sleeping right now was not an option whatsoever.

I flipped the page in the medical book I'd switched to, a headache forming when I saw the complicated words inside. None of these ever spoke in terms I could properly understand, so at this point, I was just looking for anything that seemed similar to Ben's condition. Anything I thought might be helpful, I'd run by Horace.

I looked up at the sudden sound of rustling sheets and saw Ben shifting uncomfortably in the hospital bed. I bit my lip worriedly and was about to go back to my research when I noticed his eyes slowly crack open. He winced at the bright light, groaning, and I quickly leaned forward to dim the lights to a more comfortable level.

"Hey sleepyhead." I greeted, keeping my tone gentle, getting his attention. He rolled his head across the pillow to face me, his sweat-soaked hair sticking to his forehead.

"Naomi?" He croaked, sounding confused. I nodded, looking him over.

"Yeah, it's me." I assured him. I leaned over to wipe the hair away from his face, wincing at the heat radiating off his skin. The machines said his fever was just over 103, but it felt so much worse skin to skin.

"What happened?" He groaned. I frowned but didn't pull my hand back.

"Saturn hit you with a new weapon. But you're going to be okay. You just need to rest."

"Don't feel like I'm getting better." He mumbled. I bit my inner lip.

"I know." I sighed. "But you are. Trust me."

"Okay." He agreed tiredly, closing his eyes. I pressed my lips together, trying not to be emotional in front of him, and started to pull my hand away. He whined in protest at the action though. "No, feels nice. Your hands are soft."

I couldn't help but smile at the childishness in his tone. "Are they?" I asked. He hummed in agreement, then winced. "What hurts?"

"Side. Head" He grumbled, his right hand twitching as if to touch the body parts that were hurting. "Stomach."

"I can go get Horace, see if he can give you a painkiller." I offered. I wasn't totally sure what more Horace could give him - he was already getting three different types of medications through an IV, and I'm sure Horace would have given him the best he could - but I was sure there was something.

"No, stay." Ben reached clumsily reached for my hand as I stood up. I stopped and looked back at his pale, sweaty face and pleading eyes. I nodded gently, taking his hand, and sat down on the edge of his hospital bed.

"I'm not going anywhere." I promised him. "And neither are you. Deal?"

He grimaced weakly, but nodded. "Deal." He agreed. I smiled.

"Good." I squeezed his hand gently. "You're my best friend; I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Yeah, best friend." He grumbled, going from tired to annoyed in a second. I frowned.

"Uh, yeah. Best friend. You're my best friend, Ben." I insisted. Didn't he know how important he was to me?

"And nothing more." He agreed bitterly, closing his eyes again. I stopped short, confused by those words. He wanted to be...

"How's he doing?" Horace interrupted my line of thoughts. I stood up, dropping Ben's hand. He must have passed out though, his hand falling limply back onto the blue blankets.

"He, uh...he said he was in pain." I said quickly, grabbing my book off the chair where I'd left it.

"We could try to up his pain medication." Horace hummed thoughtfully. "I'm worried it'll make him more nauseous though. We don't want him getting sick right now."

"Well, um, you're the doctor so...I'm going to call Calla, check in with the others." I stumbled over my words, heading for the door with the distinct feeling that I'd been doing something wrong when Horace came in.

**Calla's POV**

"What if we try something like this?" I leaned forward, showing AJ the section on the holopage I was talking about. He frowned.

"Maybe. But can we really get that done in…eight hours?" He murmured, unconvinced. "This type of medication isn't even sold on Earth, and the amount of time it would take to go through the process of buying it from Sethea 19…by time we got back, I don't know if we'd have enough time."

"I know, I just don't think-" I was cut off by Kameron shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Calla!" He burst through the door, grinning widely, his Davenwatch in his hand. "I'm a genius!"

"What?" Emily turned around, looking up from her holocomputer, having switched to scientific research when the comic books weren't working out. I gave Kameron an appraising look, noticing how excited he looked.

"Kameron, in this house, if you're going to call yourself that word, you have to prove it." I told him, motioning for him to sit down next to me. "So, show me what you've got."

"Alright, have you ever heard of the Thermococcus Gammatolerans?" He asked me, sitting down next to me. By now, the other kids had gathered around the entrance to the veranda, sensing that Kameron was onto something. "It's an archaea found in the Guaymas Basin."

"An archaea?" Kira replied. "He's not Spider-Man, Kam."

"Archaea, not arachnid. It's a microscopic organism, Kira, kinda like a bacteria." I explained gently before turning to Kameron. "But I'm not familiar with…Thermococcus Gammatolerans?" He nodded when I pronounced it correctly. "How can it help Ben?"

"Well, I was thinking about what you said about how we can't remove the gold from Ben, but we need to remove the Gargulon Gas. Well, Gargulon Gas is made of gold and delta radiation, and if we can't remove the gold, then…"

"Then we should remove the radiation." Charlotte finished, looking at Kameron, impressed. He smiled and nodded. "But how?"

"Kameron, there's no true way of removing radiation from a living form. Scientists have been working on that for decades." I told him. In theory, it was a good idea, but with no practical way to apply it, it wasn't worth exploring.

"Yeah, well, those scientists weren't as motivated as us." Kameron insisted. "And they aren't familiar with alien and superhero technology."

"What does this have to do with the…thingy you mentioned?" Noah asked, looking confused.

"I think we can use it to make a cure." Kameron turned back to me. "The average human can handle, what, 4 to 10 lethal doses of radiation? Ben, probably double that?"

"Yeah, about." I nodded. He smirked.

"The Thermococcus Gammatolerans can handle up to 30,000." He explained. I raised my eyebrows at that, now remembering hearing about the scientific discovery from one of my teachers back when I was their age.

"30,000?" Sera repeated, stunned. Kameron nodded.

"Scientists have made cures to illness and disease for centuries by extracting samples from bacteria and archaea. Can't we do the same thing here? Use a radiation-resistant creature to boost Ben's own resistance? Enough to get him back on his feet?"

"Would it work, Mom?" Emily asked. All the kids were looking to me as if I held Ben's life in my hands.

"I don't know." I admitted hesitantly, much to their disappointment. "I'm not a biologist, guys. But I do have some that work for me, so I'll call one and ask. Give me a few minutes."

I shook my head and pushed past the kids to walk into the living room. I pulled out my Davenwatch and called the best biologist that worked for me, all while they watched expectantly from outside. "Hey, sorry to bother you on the weekend." I greeted when Skylar Lewis picked up. "It's just…I have this problem."

I explained the situation as best as I could, giving her everything we knew before detailing out the plan. She did have some concerns, mostly with how the hell we were going to even collect archaea, given its not so safe location, but she seemed genuinely interested in the possibility of this working out.

After working out a few of the more obvious problems over the line, I instructed her to head to her lab and hung up. I turned back to the window, the kids' faces all peering in as they waited for my response. "Kameron," I said loudly, "you're a genius."

**Naomi's POV**

"And you're sure it will work?" I questioned, crossing my arms uncomfortably. Kameron's plan sounded...risky, to say the least.

"Eighty-five percent? We can't really be sure until we get it under a microscope. But theoretically, it should work." Calla replied, leaning against the counter.

"Theoretically doesn't necessarily mean it'll work in reality, Calla." I sighed. She nodded thoughtfully.

"I know that." She admitted. "And that's not the only problem."

"What else is there?" I questioned. She sighed.

"Guaymas Basin, where the archaea is found...hydrothermal plumes, hydrocarbon seeps, hot springs..." She trailed off, frowning. I stared at her.

"You do realize the only part I understood was 'hot springs' and that those sounds really nice right now?" I questioned. She sighed.

"It's going to be dangerously hot down there. Like volcanic-level hot." She told me. She gave me a look. "It's not going to be dangerous for whoever goes down there."

"And it's the kids." It wasn't a surprise. She nodded.

"I'd do it myself if it weren't for the baby." She admitted. I sighed.

"I mean, it doesn't sound much more dangerous than some of the missions that Adam, Bree, and Chase went on when they were their age." I pointed out, trying to reassure her. She nodded.

"You're right." She admitted. "But still...I'm only sending some of them down there. Kira and Sera, who can handle the heat better thanks to their powers, and Kameron because he knows what he's looking for. But I'd feel better if someone went with them, especially since none of them know how to operate the submarine."

"Me?" I questioned, feeling uneasy. I glanced back at Ben's hospital room, where he was lying unconscious. "Why not Leo?"

"Leo didn't spend three months helping Kieran do deep sea scans." She pointed out. "And before you suggest getting Kieran to do it, he's still out of contact on that 'save the amazon' thing." She turned to face me fully. "Naomi, I know. If that were Chase or Leo or Emily in there, I'd be a completely mess."

"I'm not a complete mess." I said, even though I felt like I was about five minutes away from becoming one.

"I know. It shows that you're tougher than me." She replied. She sighed. "Naomi-"

She stopped herself as the room started to shake a little. A few of the nurses quickly went to stabilize things, and Calla and I both looked over at Ben. He was unconscious now, having passed out sometime while Horace was examining him earlier, and for the past hour or so, random earthquakes would shake the building. Horace had said that his father's powers had activated like that the rare times he'd been injured or brought into Mighty Med unconscious. The quakes weren't quite so bad yet, but they were growing stronger, which could only mean one thing: Ben was getting worse.

"I'll do it." I agreed. Calla's shoulders slumped in relief. "But as soon as Ben is okay, we're teaching all the kids to operate all the transportation vehicles."

"I'm all for it." She agreed. I nodded, then glanced back at Ben. "Do you want me to give you a moment?"

"Please." I replied, turning back to her. She squeezed my arm gently.

"I'll be outside." She promised, stepping away.

I watched her go before stepping back into Ben's hospital room. I hesitated for a moment, wondering if he would wake up if I spoke, but at this point, it didn't really matter. I stood next to the bed, watching his face for any sign of consciousness.

"I need you to hang on, alright? Ben?" I squeezed his hand. There was no response. I blinked a couple of times, feeling tears spring into the corner of my eyes. "Please, just...hang on until we get back. For me."

And then I did something even I hadn't expected to do: I leaned forward and quickly pressed my lips to his. I pulled away quickly, facing burning as if I'd just done something incredibly wrong.

Ben groaned a little and I froze, half hoping and half terrified that he'd wake up. His head rolled a little across the pillow, but ultimately his eyes stayed closed.

"I'll be back." I promised, squeezing his hand one last time before turning on my heel and walking away from him, hopefully not for the last time.

**Xxx**

"This is so cool." Kira said in awe, eyes wide as she stared out the window of the submarine. I glanced at her, before turning my attention back to maneuvering the submarine through the dark waters. Any other time I would be in complete agreement with her - I'd volunteered to spend my summer after I finished 11th grade helping Kieran Daniels with his work down here because I'd been in such awe of the underwater world - but right now, I couldn't focus on anything but completing the mission.

"Let's focus here, shall we? Sera, you're watching our location, right? How much deeper do I have to go?"

"At this speed, four minutes if you keep going in the same direction." She replied, then hesitated. She turned around in her seat. "Wait, Noah said that when you're on a boat here, you're supposed to use different words. Is that the same for submarines?"

"Doesn't matter." I waved my hand dismissively. I glanced over my shoulder at Kira. "You know what you're doing out there, right? Calla said that she walked you through collecting the archaea."

"Yeah, she made me recite it back to her. I know what I'm doing." She promised. "It's pretty straight forward."

"Good. Suit up; there are special mission suits in the lockers that'll protect you from the water, pressure, and heat. Kameron, she'll need some help with it."

"On it." Kameron nodded eagerly, heading to the back of the submarine with his twin. I turned my attention back to piloting the sub, trying really hard not to think about the millions of ways this could go wrong. Calla was right to send me with Sera and the twins after all. Between the random bursts from underwater geysers and the heat that threatened to cook us alive inside the submarine, even with Sera using her powers to try and keep the sub as cool as she possibly could.

"Alright, stop in thirty seconds." Sera called, and I began to slow our descent. I stopped after what I figured was the right amount of time.

"That good?" I questioned.

"Perfect." Seraphina replied. Kameron came back just then and took his seat in front of the scanner.

"Kiki's all set to go." He announced, getting comfortable. "She's in the airlock."

"Kira, can you hear me?" I hit a button on the dash and a holoscreen appeared, showing Kira standing in the airlock chamber. She was wearing the black and blue suit, a shimmering bubble around her head.

 _"This is so weird!"_  She responded, poking at the bubble.

"He can't pop that thing, right?" Sera questioned. I shook my head.

"Nah, Calla Kaz-proofed and Adam-proofed it when she first designed the prototype. I'm sure it can survive the latest generation of Broadmans." I replied. Kameron laughed out loud at that, causing me to crack a smile before talking back into the comms. "Alright Kira, you have the device?" She waved the tube-like device in the camera. "Alright, we should be in the area around where the Gammatolerans should be. You start scanning the bacteria and archaea in the water, and we'll let you know when you've found it."

 _"Right."_  Kira nodded.

"Good luck." I pressed another button and the airlock cracked open. Water began to flood the compartment until it surrounded Kira. The bubble around her head did its job, giving her clean air to breathe and protecting her from the pressure of the deep-sea water.

"Kameron, the moment you see what we're looking for, you tell us, alright? The second you see it." I told the electrokinetic.

"I know, Naomi." He sent me an annoyed look.

"I know you know, Kameron, but there's a lot at stake here." I reminded him.

"I know." He insisted again.

"Naomi." Sera called my name. I looked over at her and she gave me a kind smile. "We'll save him, okay? But getting frustrated isn't going to help anyone."

I opened my mouth to argue with her, then bit my lip. "You're right." I shook my head. I needed to focus here; Seraphina was arguably one of, if not the most mature person on this team, but she shouldn't have to be the voice of reason for everyone else. "Kameron, I'm sorry. What you've done today is exceptional work."

Kameron didn't say anything to that, but he did send me a grateful smile before going back to focus on the holoscreen in front of him.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration and exhaustion. Time was running out, and this had to work. We didn't have time for this not to work. Ben didn't have time for this not to work.

"Stop. Kira, stop." I looked back up and spun around; Kameron was standing out of his seat, leaning over the screen. "Okay, now you need to collect a sample."

"She found it?" I questioned, getting up. He nodded.

"Yeah, she did." He nodded eagerly. "Nice job, Kira." He looked back at me. "Now we just have to get this back to Centium City."

**Calla's POV**

"How long until we know if it'll work or not?" Emily questioned, tapping her arm impatiently.

"It's hard to say, but..." I glanced at my Davenwatch, feeling cautiously optimistic, "...Ben's twenty-four hours were up an hour ago, and he's still fighting..."

I trailed off, glancing over my shoulder at Naomi. She was leaning against the wall across from Ben's room, arms crossed and chewing on a fingernail nervously as she stared at the door. Horace wouldn't let her into the room while they took care of Ben, and I could see it driving her nuts.

She wasn't the only one anxiously waiting for an update though; the rest of the kids were strewn around the waiting room. Kameron was skimming through one of the medical books that Naomi had left out, not quite reading it, but looking genuinely curious about it. Kira was pacing around the room, hands entwined behind her head. Seraphina was teaching Noah a Calderan card game, but it was clear that the two of them were only half-interested in the game. Leo was currently trying to talk Charlotte out of her second cup of coffee, while AJ and Katherine spoke quietly next to us.

"Emily?" Katherine looked over at us suddenly. "Do ya mind goin' wit Charlotte to get everyone some more coffee?"

"I thought she wasn't allowed any more coffee?" Emily asked. Leo sighed, walking over.

"Yeah, I've given up on that." He admitted. "Can you help her before she spills everyone else's drinks?"

"Sure." Emily shrugged before following after her cousin. Once the two of them were gone, Leo and Katherine both turned to me.

"So what are we going to do about them? Darius and 'Matt'..." She shook his head in exasperation as he said Marcus' fake name. "I'm going to kill him."

"You already had your chance, Leo. It's ma turn." Katherine said sternly. She gave me a look. "And you already got ta kill 'im, so don't get any ideas, Calla."

"Fine, but I get to kick Darius' ass." I replied, crossing my arms. "And if we manage to do it before the others get back, I get to do it a second time on Chase's behalf."

"Horace," Naomi said suddenly, getting our attention as the doctor walked back into the room.

"How's Ben?" Charlotte demanded as she and Emily rushed back, coffee splashing in the paper cups they'd been carrying. Horace almost chuckled at the sight, and I immediately relaxed; he wouldn't be laughing if he was about to deliver bad news, right? The others all surrounded Horace, anxious to hear his news.

"It looks like the formula that Dr. Lewis created was a success; his vitals are growing stronger by the second, and a body scan shows no sign of the Gargulon Gas particles." He announced, much to everyone's relief.

"So, he's going to be okay?" Seraphina questioned happily. Horace nodded.

"Now, he's still fairly weak." He cautioned, despite the warm smile on his face. "And without a way to completely remove all the gold from his system, his strength will never be what it was, but he should recover most of it." He looked over at Leo, Katherine, AJ, and I. "Obviously, I'll want to do a few more tests before I clear him, but he could be back to field work in a few weeks."

"Can we see him?" Noah demanded, looking at Horace imploringly.

"He needs his rest, but one or two visitors tonight wouldn't be a bad idea." He replied before glancing back at Naomi, who was staring at him intensely. "He was asking for you."

"He was?" She asked, tone nervous. He nodded and went to walk away. Leo waited a moment before clearing his throat.

"Hey, I know everyone's anxious to see Ben, but like Horace said, he does need his rest. And given the all-nighters you all pulled to help and everything that's happened these past couple of days, so do you. So why don't we all head home and get some sleep? We can come back tomorrow." He reminded them. It was almost touching the way everyone started to protest to the idea of going home, and part of me wanted to give in to them, but I could see the exhaustion on everyone's faces.

"I'll pull everyone out of school on Monday." I added as a bonus incentive. I'd already been planning on it anyway - they'd certainly earned a day off and I knew that Charlotte was more likely to agree to Leo and Katherine's plan of keeping her home for a few days if she could have the others with her - but it seemed to work pretty well as a bribe. Even Emily seemed to agree after I said those words.

I turned to Leo. "Do you mind taking them home? I should call Ben's mother - she's still snowed in at that airport in Philly and has been calling me for updates every hour."

"Yeah, of course." He agreed before turning to the others. "Anyone hungry? We can stop at McDonald's on our way home."

**Naomi's POV**

I knocked carefully on the door to Ben's hospital room, only coming in when I heard a faint response. Opening, I found Ben sitting up in his hospital bed, still looking pale and exhausted, but very much alive.

"Hey." I stepped inside and leaned against the door as I closed it, smiling at him. "Look who's awake."

"Yeah." He agreed, smiling tiredly at me.

"How're you feeling?" I asked gently. He grimaced.

"I imagine its what being hit by a car feels like." He admitted. I grimaced back sympathetically.

"Ouch." I replied. He nodded.

"I'm sorry." He apologized suddenly. I looked at him and frowned.

"For what?" I questioned, confused. He shrugged.

"I know I scared you. I didn't mean to." He explained. I nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah, well...don't let it happen again." I mumbled, looking down at my shoes. He chuckled weakly in amusement.

"I'll do my best." He promised. I nodded again, this time remembering what he'd said to me earlier, and then what I'd done while he was unconscious.

"Li...listen, Ben, we should talk." I said seriously, looking up at him. He looked at me for a moment before nodding.

"Yes please. What did I miss?" He questioned. I hesitated again, then he said something that caught me by surprise. "The last thing I remember is Charlotte pushing me down a fire escape."

"I-wait, that's the last thing you remember?" I asked sharply. He nodded.

"Yeah. Horace said that between the fever and the trauma of this," he gestured vaguely at his bandaged side, "it wasn't surprising that my mind has a few holes in it. So, what happened?"

"I..." I swallowed thickly before forcing a smile on my face. "Kameron saved the day."

"Seriously?" He chuckled. I nodded, relaxing a little.

"He's a secret genius or something." I agreed, laughing a little myself. I moved over to the bed and started to tell him about how Kameron Broadman came up with the genius solution to save his life.

If he didn't remember what happened earlier, then maybe I could pretend that it didn't happen. And things could go back to normal.


	13. Aftermath

**Kira's POV**

"Your turn." I announced, placing one of my cards down on the bedspread. Kameron nodded and drew a card before looking over his hand. "I'm just saying, it's weird."

"It's not weird. You just don't like it." He said patiently, looking over his hand one more time before drawing another card.

"It  _is_  weird." I insisted, drawing a card myself as I began my turn. "Everyone is acting weird."

"No, they're not." Kameron gave me a look. I nodded insistently.

"Emily's been working on her schoolwork  _all_  week." I pointed out before scowling and drawing another card. I just needed the right one to win.

"She's an honors student." Kameron reminded me as he picked up a card.

"She's up until like 2AM every night! We have to be up by seven." I argued. He smirked proudly and placed down a card next to his other five. Shit. He was one away from winning now. "And I heard Charlotte trying to convince Katherine to let her skip school tomorrow."

"I don't exactly blame her. Now, draw." He gestured at the pile of cards sitting on top of Josh's cage. The tarantula was hiding in the small, hollow log on Kameron's side of the cage, though I suspected that he would be out and about soon, given how close it was to feeding time.

"Okay, well, what about Ben and Naomi? They're acting weird." I pointed out, drawing a card. Kameron gave me a look.

"Ben got  _shot_." He said in exasperation. "If he wants to be quiet and cranky, he gets to. He's earned it."

"So you've noticed it too!" I announced, discarding a card. "And are he and Naomi fighting? Like, I figured she'd be glued to his side; they're barely hanging out at all."

"She's got her own school to worry about, and he's probably getting frustrated with everyone fussing over him." Kameron reasoned. I gave him a look. "Alright, it's a little weird."

"And what about Calla? She nearly forgot to feed us last night." I pointed out. He shook his head as he drew a card. He looked up at me, giving me a look. "What? She did."

"She did order pizza." He reminded me. I nodded.

"At, like, 9. After Sera went downstairs to remind her of how late it was." I pointed out. He rolled his eyes.

"It was one time, and she apologized. You're overreacting." He told me. I crossed my arms.

"I think everyone is acting weird." I insisted. He gave me a smirk.

"So you've mentioned." He replied. I scowled at him. "It's been a rough couple of weeks, Kira."

"I know, but still." I frowned. He rolled his eyes. "I'm serious!"

"So am I." He said exasperatedly. He gave me a tired look. "Hey, listen, I am really glad that nothing can pierce your bubble of…bubbliness, but not everyone has that. Just because you can bounce back quickly from things doesn't mean they can, and you shouldn't be complaining that they're struggling with it."

I looked at Kameron for a long moment. I knew he was right about that, but it still didn't sit right with me. Everyone was upset and acting hurt, and yeah, they had a right to, but that didn't mean I just had to accept it. "We should cheer everyone up." I decided, changing tactics.

He frowned. "How?" He questioned. I shrugged.

"Haven't thought that far ahead yet. I'll brainstorm ideas after I beat you." I decided. He chuckled. "What?"

"I hate to break it to you…" He took a card from his hand and placed it down next to his other six. I stared at the display of seven unicorn cards, realizing that he'd been playing me the entire time. "But I just won."

"I…I want a rematch!" I protested just as Noah walked into the room, wearing nothing but sweat pants as he dried his hair with a towel.

"What are you playing?" He questioned, dropping down onto his own bed.

"Unstable Unicorns. It's an archaic card game our mom showed us over the summer." Kameron explained. He looked at me. "Can we have that rematch tomorrow? I kinda want to go to bed."

"Fine." I climbed off his bed. "I'll just figure out how to cheer everyone up on my own."

"Do I want to know?" Noah questioned, crumpling his towel up into a ball. He tossed it towards the closet, smirking when it rebounded off the wall into the laundry bin below.

"Not yet. I'll let you know." I replied. "Night Noah, night Kameron. Night Josh-y." I patted the cage affectionately before walking across the hall towards my own room. Naomi was at the desk near her bed, one headphone in as she watched something on her holocomputer.

"Hey." She greeted, glancing over at me before going back to her show. I grabbed my Little Mermaid themed PJ top off the bed and started to get changed.

"Hey, question for you." I called over my shoulder before pulling the PJ top over my head.

"Shoot." She hummed.

"Calla and the dinner thing, is that normal, or is it weird?" I asked. "Because it makes sense for, like, Charlotte and Emily to be acting weird, but she's the adult."

Naomi chuckled and paused her show. "I think she's working on some new project or something. She tends to lose track of everything else when she's working on a project or when she's worried about something." She explained, shrugging. "It's not on purpose, and knowing her, she'll have MISS remind her to cook dinner on time for a bit. But honestly, if it weren't for Chase, I think she'd probably survive on coffee and granola bars for weeks on end when she's working on something."

"Oh." I hummed. Naomi gave me a gentle smile.

"She feels bad about forgetting last night." She told me. "I guarantee that she'll be more on top of it now."

"Yeah, I know. She's got a lot on her plate." I nodded in agreement. "I just didn't realize how much."

"She's fine, Kira." Naomi promised. I nodded again, lying down on the bed. Then, it hit me.

"I have an idea." I announced dramatically, sitting up for good measure. Naomi cocked her head to the side, eyeing me curiously, and I grinned back at her. Oh, this was going to be good.

**Kameron's POV**

"But everyone's going to ask where I've been and what happened." Charlotte was protesting as I came down the stairs. Leo, Calla, and Katherine were at the front door, trying to persuade Charlotte to go to school without an argument. She'd been avoiding it since the attack, but after a week of letting her stay home, her parents were finally putting their feet down about it.

Meanwhile, Sera was kneeling by the couch, where Ben was lying, getting him to look over her history homework. Emily was in the kitchen, poking disinterestedly at her oatmeal while Kira spoke to her excitedly in whispers, eyeing the adults carefully to make sure she wasn't being overheard. Naomi was missing, probably having already left for an early class or something, while Noah was helping Calla out by filling lunch bags.

"No, they won't." Leo assured her. "We had Perry tell people you got lost in the woods. As far as everyone is concerned, you just had a rough night and that you're taking a break."

"A lot of students took some time off after the attack last Friday, you're not the only one." Calla added. She caught sight of me coming down the stairs. "Kameron, weren't you telling me that only a handful of students showed up to your homeroom on Tuesday?"

"Uh, yeah. The teacher basically gave us a free period because of it." I replied, remembering how boring that day had been. "Char, no one is going to notice."

"I...fine. But can I come home early if I'm not feeling well?" She begged. Katherine and Leo exchanged glances. "Please?"

"Try to make it through half the day, alright?" Katherine agreed reluctantly. Charlotte nodded.

"Alright, anyone who wants a drive to school, I'm leaving in five." Leo announced. Emily frowned.

"I thought you were going to drive us again." She commented, glancing at her mom. Calla sent her an apologetic look.

"Sorry, sweetie, but I have some things to get done at the office." She apologized, walking away from the entrance to grab her holocomputer off the table. She glanced over at Ben, frowning. "You're going to be okay on your own for a few hours, right? Naomi should be back around 1 or so."

"I'll be fine. Go." Ben waved her off with a frustrated sigh. I grimaced sympathetically; Ben was supposed to be on bed rest for a few more days, and was clearly going stir-crazy. He wasn't much enjoying everyone fussing over him either. "Seriously, go. I'm good. I'll just...nap or something."

"If you're sure." Calla shrugged, already distracted by something on her Davenwatch. "Alright, time for school, guys."

**xxx**

"Wow, things are quiet around here." Charlotte commented as we walked into the school's lobby. She was right - instead of the usual morning buzz that we'd seen almost every day since transferring here, few students were even hanging out in the hallway before class. "Where is everyone?"

"Well, a bunch of kids transferred out. Their parents pulled them out because of how dangerous things have been around here." Seraphina explained. Charlotte nodded and glanced at Emily.

"Anyone we like?" She questioned. Emily shrugged, stopping when we reached her and Charlotte's lockers.

"Nathan Davis, Kiara Lee, that 9th grader that keeps pulling pranks on the librarian..." She listed.

"And Darius Moore and Matt Ward." Ava interrupted, skipping over to us, her cousin Aaron right behind her. She immediately pulled Charlotte into a hug, though the bionic girl didn't seem quite as comfortable with it as she normally would be. "Oh, I can't believe you got lost in the woods. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Ava." Charlotte squirmed out of the hug. Ava nodded, smiling.

"Yeah, the two cutest seniors must have gotten pulled out by their parents. At least that's what we think - they didn't say anything to anyone. You still haven't heard from Darius?" Ava looked at Emily questioningly. Emily shook her head, turning to face her locker.

"No. I haven't." She said shortly as she began to unload her bag into the locker. Ava nodded, then looked sympathetically at Charlotte.

"I'm sorry, hon. I know you had a thing for Matt." She apologized. Charlotte shrugged and turned to open her locker.

"It's fine. I was kinda over him." She lied. Ava frowned at that, and looked like she was about to press the issue.

"Ava," I interrupted before she could. "You had Mrs. Bruins last year for English, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Why?" She looked slightly peeved at being interrupted, but brushed it off.

"Well, we have her now, and our term papers are due next week, and I was kinda hoping you could take a look at my first draft? I mean, it's probably shit, but I would really like your take on it. You know what she's looking for, right? Since you've had her before."

"I...yeah, I suppose. Emily was in that class too though, why don't you ask her?" She inquired. I shrugged.

"Em said you did better than her in the class." I explained. Ava raised an eyebrow.

"By, like, a percent." She replied.

"A single percent could be the difference between a pass and a fail." I pointed out. "So, do you think we can take a look at it before class? We all have stuff to do after school."

"Yeah, sure. C'mon - we might as well go to your locker." She commented. I nodded.

"Sweet. Thanks." I replied before starting to walk away. I shot a glance over my shoulder as we walked and saw Charlotte mouth 'thank you' at me. I smiled back in return, then started to show Ava to my locker.

**Naomi's POV**

"Hi, Spencer." I greeted, walking up to the receptionist's desk outside of Calla's office. He smiled up at me.

"Hey, Naomi. I didn't see you on the books." He commented. I shrugged.

"I didn't call first. She's on lunch though, right? It's not a problem if I drop in?" I asked, concerned. I didn't want to have to come back later. Spencer shook his head.

"She's on lunch, but I'm pretty sure she's working through it. But you, Ben, and Mr. Dooley are all allowed in without appointments so long as she's not in a meeting. Go on in." He gestured at the door. I smiled.

"Thanks, Spence." I told him before walking up to the door. I knocked briefly before stepping inside.

"Naomi!" Calla exclaimed, startled by my sudden arrival. She quickly shut down her holo-projector, but not before I caught sight of the star system she was looking at.

"Were those satellite photos? What're you looking at?" I asked, curious. She shook her head.

"It's nothing." She snapped. I paused, a little caught off guard by her tone. "Sorry, it's just...work stuff."

"If you're sure." I commented hesitantly. She nodded.

"Sorry." She said again before smiling at me. "What're you doing here?"

"I...I, uh, wanted to talk to you about something, but if you're busy..." I trailed off. She saw the look on my face, then glanced at her holo-projector. "I can come back."

"No. It's fine. I could use a break." She decided, though she didn't seem so sure that she wanted to abandon her work like this. She sat down on the edge of her desk, then gestured at the couch near the main holo-screens. "What's up?"

"I...I think I made a mistake." I admitted, dropping down onto the couch. She crossed her legs, raising her chin.

"What kind of mistake?" She asked curiously. I sighed.

"I might have...kissed Ben." I admitted. Calla stared at me for a long moment, then reached behind her and touched the button on her intercom.

"Hey, Spencer?" She asked. "I'm going to need to extend my lunch by an hour."

"Got it, Mrs. Davenport." He replied. She nodded, then turned to face me with wide eyes.

"You kissed Ben." She repeated. I nodded. "And how do we feel about this decision?"

"I don't know." I sighed, dropping my face into my hands. She waited patiently for me to continue, and eventually I looked up. "I mean, he doesn't remember it, so..."

"What do you mean 'he doesn't remember it'?" She asked, frowning. "I'm pretty sure that's not something he'd forget."

"It was when he was hurt." I explained. She nodded in understanding. "When he was out of it and stuff, he said...well, he said that he liked me...or, he implied it, anyway. And I didn't know how to respond, and then I thought that he might die, and..."

"And you kissed him." She finished. I nodded.

"And now he doesn't remember it, but I can't really forget it, and I don't know what to do."

"Well...do you like him? Like, the way you think he likes you?" Calla asked, leaning back on the desk. I bit my lip. "You don't."

"I don't know." I admitted, clasping my hands together as I felt them start to shake a little. "I know I care about him, a lot. But...I don't know if I care about him as a friend, or if it's something more." Calla nodded thoughtfully. "How did you figure out that you liked Chase as more than a friend?"

"That is a...good question." Calla acknowledged. She stood up then and moved to sit down next to me. "There was this moment, god, so many years ago..." She smiled at the memory. "I'd just caught my boyfriend, or my ex-boyfriend, cheating on me at a party. Well,  _trying_  to cheat on me – it didn't go the way he planned. And with Bree of all people."

"Ouch." I winced sympathetically. She nodded.

"So, there I was, crying my heart out in the bathroom over a boy who never deserved it, and Chase comes walking in, and he doesn't even say anything, he just holds me." She continued. "And trust me, he could have said I-told-you-so. He'd warned me about Caleb, and you know how much he likes to say that he was right."

"Those are some of his favorite words." I agreed. She nodded.

"But he didn't. He just held me and told me it wasn't my fault." She smiled sweetly. "I'd never had a guy treat me like that before. I'd never had someone be so genuinely kind. That's when I knew."

"Yeah...I don't think I've ever had a moment like that with Ben." I admitted. She shrugged.

"Everyone's different. Some have moments like me and Chase, others just...know. There's no right way or wrong way to tell." She told me. I sighed.

"What do I do?" I asked her. "I feel like no matter what I do, things aren't going to go back to normal between us."

She bit her lip. "I don't know. But I do know you need to talk to him about it." She told me. I nodded; I knew she was right; I just didn't know what to say.

**Kameron's POV**

"Okay, so we're all good to go after school, right?" Kira questioned, coming to my side as soon as class had ended. I chuckled; once she had an idea, my sister could be really determined to follow it through.

"Yes. Noah's going to pick Emily, Charlotte, Sera, and I up after school and drive us to the mall."

"Great. I'm gonna go home since it's lunch and get things ready there." She clapped her hands together, grinning to herself. "I have third period free, so I don't have to be back for a couple of hours."

"Yeah, okay." I wasn't totally paying attention to her anymore. Down the hall, near my locker, I could see Charlotte talking to the captain of the football team, Kirk Buchanan. Kirk was basically the most popular guy in school, and, if I remembered correctly, he'd just broken up with his girlfriend last week. Great.

"Well, she moves on fast." Kira observed. She glanced at me. "I'm sorry, Kam."

"It's fine...actually, I'm going to catch up with you later." I told her before walking down the hall towards my locker. I opened it up, then glanced back at Charlotte and Kirk, wondering what they were talking about. I paused, noticing how tense Charlotte looked. Her arms were crossed almost protectively around herself, and I could see her biting her lip nervously.

"C'mon, I know you and that Matt loser weren't working out, and the winter formal is in a few weeks. Going with me has got to be better than going alone."

"I wasn't really going to go..." Charlotte mumbled. She was leaning against a set of lockers, with Kirk leaning against them with one hand over Charlotte's head.

"C'mon, baby. You're one of the hottest girls in school, I'm definitely the best option left in this trash-hole. What's the problem?"

"I'm really not interested, Kirk." Charlotte insisted, but it was pretty obvious that Kirk wasn't taking no for an answer.

"C'mon, honey. Why not?" He pressed.

"Hey, Charlotte!" I interrupted, running up to them. "Oh, hey Dirk."

"It's Kirk." He growled. I frowned.

"Are you sure?" I asked. Charlotte looked at me and seemed to relax a little. Kirk, on the other hand, decided that he did not like me at all.

"What do you want, sophomore?" He questioned in annoyance.

"Well, Charlotte here promised to help me with my English paper. Right?" I looked at her, eyebrows raised. She could tell me no if she wanted, if I'd misread the situation, but at least it gave her an escape if she really wanted it.

"Yes, right. We should...go do that." She agreed. I grinned and offered her my hand, which she took with a grateful smile.

"See ya, Dirk." I called over my shoulder as I led her away. We stopped in the adjacent hallway, where Charlotte leaned back against the wall with a breath of relief. "You okay?"

"I...it's just, after Matt...Marcus..." She shook her head, biting her lip. "And then Kirk..."

"Dirk." I corrected with a smirk. She gave me a vaguely amused look. "Hey, I get it. The last thing you need is some dude hitting on your when you're obviously not interested."

"Yeah." She nodded halfheartedly. I looked around, then back at her.

"Do you want to call your mom or dad? They did say you only had to make it through half the day." I suggested. She bit her lip, thinking about it, then, to my surprise, shook her head.

"No, I...I think I'm good." She decided. I nodded, smiling at her. "So, do you actually have an English paper due, or is it just your default excuse?"

"I do, actually." I laughed a little. "And Ava wasn't all that helpful, if I'm being honest. But you don't have to help me out with it if you don't want to."

"No." She shook her head. "I want to. It'd be a good distraction."

"In that case, please help. I'm screwed otherwise." I told her. She cracked a smile at that. "Wanna work over lunch?"

"Sure." She agreed. She stood up from the wall, adjusted her backpack and raised her chin. "Let's go."

I smiled to myself, following her towards the cafeteria.

**Kira's POV**

"Hey MISS, what do you know anything about-Ben?" I stopped short as I walked into Mission Command from the tunnels. To my surprise, Ben was in the middle of mission command, laying into a punching bag as hard as he could, breathing heavy. "Hey!"

He stopped mid-punch, clearly surprised for anyone to be home at this point in the day. "What are you doing here?" He questioned, leaning heavily against the bag. I could see his muscle shirt soaked with sweat.

"What are you doing?" I demanded, dropping my bag at the entrance. "Horace said you weren't allowed to do any training until Saturday!"

"I'm fine, Kira." He shot at me. I frowned, taking in his exhausted appearance, and how one hand was subconsciously wrapped around his mid-section.

"But you're not." I pointed out. He let out a frustrated sigh and turned around to face me. His hair was soaked with sweat; clearly, he'd been at this for a while.

"You should be in school." He told me, annoyed. I crossed my arms.

"Actually, I have lunch and then spare. I don't have to be back at school until 1:30. You, on the other hand, should be resting." I commented. He opened his mouth to argue with me, but I raised my hand to stop him. "And don't think that just because you and Naomi have been having issues doesn't mean you can take it out on me...or that bag."

"We're not..." I stared him down and he sighed before restarting. "I'm sorry you felt like I was taking something out on you. I didn't mean to be mean."

I frowned. "I'll accept your apology if you stop beating up the punching bag." I decided. He glanced at me, bemused.

"You do know that it's meant for people to beat it up, right?" He asked me. I rolled my eyes.

"Just because I don't use it much myself doesn't mean I don't know what it's for. But you're hurt, so you should stop." I argued. He rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to stop arguing with you until you listen to me."

"Fine, fine." He raised his hands in surrender before dropping heavily into one of the chairs by the cyber computers. He looked up at me. "But for the record, Naomi and I aren't having problems."

"Yes, you are." I frowned, wondering if he'd somehow missed that. He gave me a look. "Oh, c'mon, it's obvious. You're barely talking; that'd be like me and Kameron barely talking. Have you ever seen us go more than a few hours without talking?"

"No." He admitted. I nodded before sitting down at the seat across from him, flattening my skirt with my hands once I was sitting.

"So?" I looked at him, resting my chin on my hand. He looked at me blankly and I sighed. "Are you going to tell me what's going on between you two? Or why you're beating up that innocent punching bag?" To my disappointment, he shook his head. "C'mon. You were basically destroying that bag. There must be a reason. Is it because of what's up with you and Naomi?"

He gave me a look. "It's not exactly something you'd understand."

I leaned back, fully offended. "Try me." I insisted. He looked like he was about to refuse, so I shook my head. "Fine, whatever. Don't tell me. Just wait for Noah or Emily or Sera to come home and tell them. They'd probably understand."

I got up in a huff and started for the hyper lift.

"Kira, wait!" There was a sudden clang, and then a curse. I turned to see Ben on his knees, having apparently fallen when trying to rush after me.

"This wouldn't have happened if you'd stayed on the couch like you were told." I muttered, walking back over to him. He didn't answer as he climbed back up to his feet. His teeth were gritted in pain, his arm wrapped around his side. "Okay, you're lying down. Can you walk?"

"I'm fine." He pushed himself forward and I instantly ducked under the arm that wasn't clutching his side, giving him a bit of support. I slowly helped him over to the hyperlift, then, once it had shot us up to the main floor, back to the couch. Helix, who must have sensed Ben's discomfort, climbed off of the couch so that I could lie the older boy back onto it, then jumped back up and laid his head on Ben's legs.

"Good boy, Helix." I scratched the dog's head, raising an eyebrow when I noticed that he was wearing his old, space-themed collar again. Emily must have thrown out the helix-themed one that Darius had given her. "Are you okay?"

"Not really." He rested his right arm over his eyes, the other one lying on his stomach. I looked him over, concerned.

"Should I call Naomi? or Calla? Or Horace?" I asked, raising my hand to look at the numbers in my Davenwatch. He shook his head.

"I was basically destroying it." He muttered, not answering my question. I frowned, hand hovering over the Davenwatch.

"Excuse me?" I asked, not sure what he was talking about. He sighed.

"You said I was basically destroying the punching bag. And I was, basically destroying it." He commented, moving his hand. He looked at me with eyes clouded by frustration and sadness. "I used to be able to actually destroy one. Now, I can't even put a hole in it. It's pathetic."

"You do know that those bags are reinforced with titanium and carbon steel fibers, right? Adam Davenport uses those punching bags." I pointed out, sitting on the coffee table. I knew Calla didn't like it when we did that, but she wasn't home and the stools were too far away. "It's not pathetic."

"I'm supposed to be stronger than Adam Davenport. Or at least as strong. My father was that strong. I used to be that strong." He muttered the last sentence, shaking his head.

"You're injured. You can't expect yourself to be at 100% yet." I reasoned.

"Yeah, well, according to Horace, I'm never going to be at 100% again." He sighed. I bit my lip, not having an argument with that. He let out a long breath. "I need to get rid of these gold shards."

"Horace said that's not possible, that even if he had tools that could open you back up again, they were too small and there were too many of them." I reminded him. He nodded, scowling in annoyance. "He also said that you'd almost completely recover."

"But almost isn't good enough." He looked at me. "I'm supposed to be a hero, Kira. How am I supposed to do that now?"

"You're still strong, stronger than any of us. And you can still fly-" I listed.

"Not nearly as fast." He mumbled.

"But that's still pretty impressive. And you're still mostly invulnerable, right?" I questioned. He nodded begrudgingly. "See? You're still a badass."

"It's not enough." He sighed. I put my hands on my hips.

"And why not? Naomi doesn't have powers, and she's still a hero. She's leading the team, even." I pointed out.

"Naomi is Naomi. She's...special. She's a badass." He replied. I bit back a smile at that. "I'm different."

"Why?" I pressed.

"Because I'm Tecton's son!" He snapped. I stopped, and he sighed. "I just...he was the greatest superhero of his generation. I'm supposed to be his legacy, the next Tecton, and now..." He rubbed one hand over his eyes. "If he could see me now..."

"If it means anything, I think he'd be proud of you." I commented. He looked at me.

"You weren't even born until 8 years after he died." He pointed out, semi-annoyed. I nodded.

"I know, but Mom and Dad knew him. And they told me stories about him." He looked surprised at that, but it was true; Mom and Dad had told me and Kameron all the stories of the friends they'd lost when Roddiseus' children had attacked Mighty Med. "They told me how amazing he was and how good he was, but they also told me that he was really nervous about being a dad."

"Really?" Ben looked surprised. I frowned.

"Didn't your mom tell you about him?" I asked, surprised. He shook his head.

"Not really. They weren't...I wasn't planned." He waved his hand vaguely. "She just told me he wasn't around much because he was busy with the superhero world."

"Well, Mom and Dad said he'd bring you by Mighty Med a lot, that they used to play with you when he was doing stuff. Oh, and that Uncle Ollie was afraid of babies, so he wanted nothing to do with you." I added cheerfully. He chuckled a little at that. "And that he kept asking Clone Master for advice about kids, and that he kept asking Horace about if you'd get his powers and stuff. They told me other stuff to, about how he was one of the only superheroes who didn't look down on Normos. It sounds like he was a pretty cool guy, and I think he'd be pretty proud that you're helping Naomi lead a team of newbies. Even if you're not as strong as his anymore."

Ben didn't respond to that, frowning as he thought over what I'd said. "And for the record, we're all pretty proud of you too. And we don't think you're any less of a hero because you're hurt." I added.

He looked over at me for a full minute. "Thank you." He said after a bit. I shrugged.

"So," I licked my lips. "Why am I giving you the pep talk instead of Naomi? And don't tell me I won't understand." I told him. He sighed, dropping his head back onto the couch. I waited patiently, scratching Helix behind the ears.

"I told her I wanted to be more than friends." He said eventually. I raised my eyebrows at that. I wasn't totally surprised - I was basically on-point for figuring out all the relationships and crushes on this team - but at the same time, it wasn't what I expected him to say.

"How did she react?" I asked gently. He chuckled darkly. "That bad?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure she kissed me." He admitted. I hummed. "I think. Someone definitely kissed me. I think it was her; I hope it was her."

"You think?" I questioned. He looked over at me.

"It was when I was in the hospital." He explained. I nodded.

"You said you didn't remember anything after saving Charlotte? That the fever must have messed with your head?" I remembered. He nodded. "Why'd you lie?"

"Because I saw her face." He sighed, sitting up with a wince. He placed his hand on Helix's back, rubbing it gently. He shook his head. "She looked so...scared, all of a sudden. Like what I'd said was the most terrifying thing I could have told him, and she was terrified of having that conversation. So I gave her an out."

"I see." I sucked a breath in through my teeth. "That's...complicated."

"Understatement, but yes. It's complicated." He agreed. "And now she's acting weird about it, because why wouldn't she, and I can't even talk to her about it without having to tell her that I lied, and it's a huge mess I don't know how to get out of."

"Yeah, okay. That's, that's rough." I admitted. He nodded.

"I didn't mean to upset you when I said you wouldn't understand," he told me, "but unless you've somehow managed to ruin a lifelong friendship with a single sentence, I really don't see how you could."

"Okay, that's fair." I admitted. He nodded. "I do know what it's like for someone you like not to feel the same way. It sucks."

"What did you do?" He looked back at me. I grimaced at the memory, not wanting to relive it. "Oh, it went that bad?"

"Yeah, she, um, had a boyfriend." I shook my head. "Can we change the topic? I really don't feel like going into it."

"Sure, we can, because  _I_  understand boundaries." He agreed, half-joking.

"I understand boundaries, I just..." I trailed off, then sighed. He frowned.

"What's wrong?" He asked. I shook my head and got up. "Okay, no. What's eating you?"

I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to figure out how to phrase it right. "I just...Naomi and you are the bosses, and Seraphina's a badass, and everyone else on this team are genius...including Kameron, apparently, and I'm just...Look." I clasped my hands together. "I know everyone thinks I'm kind of a bubbly-ditz sometimes and that I don't see what everyone else is going through, but I do. I just don't think being sad or upset or angry or negative about it is going to help the situation. Which is why I push about things and try to cheer everyone up, and I know it can be annoying, but-"

"Whoa." Ben raised her hands to stop me. "Easy, firefly. Slow down for a sec and take a breath."

I did as I was told, taking a deep, slightly exaggerated breath. "Okay, I'm calm."

"No one thinks you're a ditz." He told me. I shrugged. "I'm serious."

"Look, I'm not a genius or as smart as some of the others. It's okay. I'm okay with it. I can be cool without being a genius. But being nice and making people happy is my thing, so let me have it."

"Alright." He chuckled, knowing better than to argue with me. I nodded, rubbing my hands together. Time to focus on why I'd come home for lunch instead of eating with the others. "Now, since you're done with your workout, you can help me set up."

"Set what up?" He questioned carefully. I grinned.

**Naomi**

"I would go with La Rose Rouge. They have much better steak." I was telling Jerry, the doorman, leaning against the counter.

"Yeah? That's some good advice. Thanks." He smiled at me before nodding at someone behind me. "Hello Mrs. Davenport."

"Hi Jerry." Calla greeted in response, though her tone clearly said her mind was somewhere else. She was looking over something on her Davenwatch with a deep, worried frown.

"What's wrong?" I questioned, walking over to meet her. She stopped, a little surprised to find me waiting for her in the lobby.

"What're you doing down here?" She questioned suspiciously, putting her Davenwatch away. I shrugged, hands behind my back as I subtly messaged Kira to let her know that Calla was home.

"I wanted to walk you up." I replied with a falsely cheerful smile on my face. She studied my face for a minute, frowning.

"They broke something, didn't they? They destroyed something, right?" She shook her head, stalking towards the elevator. I waved in goodbye to Jerry before racing after her. "Just the cherry on the sundae. I swear..."

"Hey, no, wait." I grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to stop. "Nothing is broken, nothing is wrong, I swear." I assured her. I gave her a look. "Now, seriously, what's wrong? And don't say work stuff - I already asked Noah what you're working on."

"I don't tell Noah everything I'm working on." She argued. I raised an eyebrow at that. "Let it go, Naomi."

"That's not exactly my specialty, letting things go." I reminded her as she started back towards the elevator. I followed her inside, hitting the button for our floor before she had to. "Now, are you going to tell me what's going on, or aren't you?"

"I'm not." She insisted. I started to argue with her, but then saw her expression. She looked exhausted and genuinely upset. "Please, Naomi, just stop."

I nodded slowly. "Alright. I'll drop it. But...you do know you can talk to me, right? Or at least Leo."

"Yeah, I know." She squeezed my arm gratefully. I nodded again.

"Okay." I said as we reached our floor. I turned to her as the doors opened up right in front of the entrance to our penthouse. "By the way, you might want to put a smile on your face before the kids see you."

"Why?" Calla questioned suspiciously. I smirked and walked towards the door, jerking my head at it as if to say 'you'll just have to find out'. She sighed, smiled, and pushed past me into the apartment.

"SURPRISE!" Kira, Sera, Kameron, and Charlotte jumped out from behind the couch excitedly. The kitchen area was decorated with pink and blue streamers, with blue and pink boxes on the table surrounding a white cake with blue and pink flowers on it.

Emily, Ben, and Noah looked back at the other kids, a little confused, while Calla just stared at the scene before her, absolutely stunned. "What's going on?" She demanded. Noah frowned, looking at Kira, Kameron, Seraphina, and Charlotte in bewilderment.

"Well, it's supposed to be a baby shower, but apparently we've turned it into a surprise party?" He said questioningly. Charlotte shrugged.

"When an opportunity to jump out and scream at people presents itself, always take advantage of it, Noah." She told him, dead serious. Calla raised her hands to stop everyone from talking.

"Who's idea was this?" She asked, her voice oddly quiet. Kira glanced at the others, nervous by Calla's reaction, but cleared her throat.

"It was mine." She said quietly. Calla's gaze locked on her. "I just thought, well, Mom and Dad are probably going to make us go back to New York when they get back, and the baby's not due until after that, so we're not going to be here when he or she is born, and I felt we should still get a chance to celebrate the baby. And everyone was kinda upset after last week, so I thought...why not cheer everyone up with an impromptu baby shower?"

Calla didn't say anything, but I could see her eyes watering. "We can put everything away if you want." Emily offered uneasily. Calla shook her head and raised her arms.

"No. Hugs, Kira first." She decided. Kira beamed and immediately went to hug Calla, quickly followed by Emily, Charlotte, Kameron, Noah, and finally Sera. "I love you kids." I heard Calla mumble to them as I walked past her to sit on the couch with Ben.

"Hey, you." I shouldered him gently. He looked over at me.

"Hey yourself." He replied, shouldering me in return. "Listen, Naomi-"

"Ben, I-" I started at the same time. We both stopped, and chuckled.

"Sorry." He apologized, motioning for me to go first. I sighed.

"I know I've been acting a little weird lately." I admitted. He looked like he disagreed, so I continued quickly. "I know I have. And I'm sorry. I just, after everything..." I grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently. "You nearly died and I...I can't imagine my life without you. And I guess it's made me act a little distant while I got my head straight."

"Well, I haven't exactly helped. My own head's been a little messed up since then too." He admitted. I nodded, having noticed that he'd been distant too. "But I think I'm ready to go back to normal if you are?"

I smiled. "That's exactly what I want." I agreed. He smiled.

"Alright then. That's what we'll do." He agreed. I nodded, rethinking my earlier conversation with Calla. Maybe it was what I wanted. But maybe it wasn't.


	14. Jingle Bells

**Kira's POV**

"Good morning." I smiled at Calla as I walked back into the Penthouse. She looked up from her holo-computer as I came in before looking at the holoscreen in confusion.

"Morning. Where were you at…six in the morning?" She questioned, unused to seeing a teenager up early when school was out.

"I went for a run." I explained, walking past her to the kitchen sink to refill my empty water bottle. "Just because we're on Christmas break doesn't mean I should skip a workout."

"You are a very unusual teenager." She commented, looking at me before smiling a little. "Thank you for that. You're like a breath of fresh air."

"You'd be surprised how often I get that." I replied, smiling back at her. She shook her head.

"It might be a few hours before any of the others are up." She mentioned. "But Noah left early to pick his sister up from the airport, so-"

She was cut off as the front door swung open and Charlotte, still clad in reindeer-themed PJs, burst in. She didn't acknowledge us before taking off up the stairs towards the bedrooms. "You were saying?" I questioned. A second later, a couple of high-pitched screams started coming from the second floor.

Calla got up, but by time she made it to the stairs, the screaming had stopped. "Girls? What's going on?"

Her question was met with a new set of screams. Sera came stumbling down the stairs a moment later, hair a mess and looking vaguely traumatized as she recovered from the very abrupt, very sudden early wake up. "Your daughter is crazy."

"Well, she's a Davenport." Calla muttered before stepping on one of the stairs. "Emmy? Charlotte? Good screams or bad screams?"

"Good!" They shouted back, glee in their tones.

"Then can the rest of us go back to sleep?" Kameron shouted from his own room. I heard a door shut loudly upstairs, then another one open.

"It's six in the morning, guys!" I heard Naomi complain. "Whatever it is, couldn't it wait another hour or two?"

I heard the door behind me open up and turned around to see a brown-haired twelve-year old girl walk into the penthouse, Noah behind her carrying an apple red duffle bag over his shoulder. "What did I just walk into?" Justine Parker questioned, looking genuinely amused at the scene before her.

**Xxx**

"I am so proud of you." Calla said, giving both Charlotte and Emily hugs from the side as the two girls stared down at their holo-computers in awe. They were both grinning ear to ear, genuinely thrilled with the news, and I was happy for them. It had been about a month since Marcus and Darius had broke their hearts, and it was really nice to see them both so happy again. Even Charlotte, who had taken it all so much harder than Emily did, was beaming as if nothing could ruin her mood.

"Hey, Calla, have you seen- there you are." Leo sighed as he walked in and found Charlotte on the couch with Emily. He looked at her before shaking his head. "You want to tell me what  _that_  was about?"

"I'm guessing she woke your household up to?" Calla guessed with a slight smile. He nodded.

"Look, Papa." Charlotte handed him the holo-computer, allowing him to read the email that was up on the holo-screen.

"'Dear Ms. Dooley," he read carefully, eyes widening as he realized what the email was saying, "On behalf of the Admission Committee, it is my pleasure to offer you admission to the MIT Class of 2042…you got in. Holy shit, you got in."

"Language, Papa." Charlotte said teasingly. Leo gave her a look, but it was clear from the pride in his eyes that he didn't have it in him to be annoyed with his daughter.

"She got early acceptance." Emily bragged, beaming up at him. "And she's not the only one."

"You got in too?" He questioned. Emily nodded silently, eyes a lit. "Guys, that's great. That's just…wow."

"Oh!" Charlotte gasped suddenly, grabbing Emily's arms. "We could be roommates."

"That's a great idea. No one else could handle your level of crazy." Kameron commented teasingly. Charlotte rolled her eyes and hit him in the arm.

"C'mon, I know you're happy for us." She teased. He sighed.

"Yeah, I am." He admitted, smiling at her. I rolled my eyes.

"You know, Cambridge is only a few hours away from New York. We could visit each other on weekends and holidays and stuff." I commented, examining my fingernails nonchalantly. Kameron looked at me, surprised, as if he didn't expect me to know that.

"We should go out to dinner to celebrate." Charlotte suggested, looking at her dad and Calla hopefully.

"It's Christmas Eve, sweetie; I don't know what will be open." Leo apologized. "But why don't we go out and celebrate you two getting into M.I.T. on the 26th?"

"Sure." "Sounds great." Charlotte and Emily agreed. Justine, who was sitting on the armchair next to Leo, cleared her throat.

"And maybe celebrate me coming to visit?" She questioned, reminding everyone of her presence.

"Oh, yes. Sorry, little Jay." Leo hugged his niece, realizing for the first time that she was here.

"It's okay, Uncle Leo." She peeked out at Charlotte and Emily. "Congratulations, guys."

"Thanks." Emily grinned at her. Leo pulled away.

"Okay, so Noah explained that you're going to be staying with us, right?" He questioned before glancing around at the full living room. "I think the Penthouse is at capacity."

"Yep." Justine nodded, pulling away before grinning at Charlotte. "All-night sleepover?"

"Duh." Charlotte fist-bumped her cousin. Justine smiled before turning to Sera, Kameron, and I.

"It's really nice to meet you guys, by the way. Noah told me a lot about you guys." She mentioned.

"Good things, I hope." Sera smiled. Justine smirked and shook her head.

"No, terrible things. He really hates you guys." She said sarcastically. I laughed at her sass.

"God, you should hear the awful things he says about you." I said, matching her tone. I shook my head. "Noah, she does not have devil horns."

"Oh god, there's two of them." Noah muttered, rubbing his eyes.

**Ben's POV**

"So, Uncle Oliver and Aunt Skylar really don't celebrate Christmas?" Kameron questioned, shaking his head at Seraphina. The Calderan-Human shrugged.

"Well, we have a really fancy dinner and we spend the night doing family things, like games and movies, and they always take the day off, but we don't do any of this." She gestured at the penthouse, which Naomi has decked out in tinsel, decorative balls, and other Christmas decorations. "Decorations, presents…Calderans don't have the holiday on their planet, and Dad says that it's more about family than material stuff."

"She has a point." Katherine commented, walking into the penthouse carrying a box of decorations, with Leo, Noah, and Kira behind her. Leo, Katherine, Calla, and Chase usually combined their Christmas celebrations, since everyone was living so close to each other, and with all the other kids here, it made the most sense to celebrate at the Penthouse given that it was the larger of the two apartments. "Christmas is about spendin' time wit' family. Not about presents or gifts."

"I don't see why it can't be about both." Kira mentioned, dropping a heavy-looking box by the large Christmas tree near the big window. "Wow, you guys have a lot of Christmas decorations."

"Well, we like to decorate." Leo reasoned, dropping a box by the door just as Emily came down the stairs, wearing her winter jacket. "And everyone is helping."

"I haven't finished my Christmas shopping yet." She protested, staring at Leo. He gave her a look.

"It's December 24th." He pointed out. She nodded.

"I was a little busy, you know, trying to get into college?" She suggested, smirking a little at the frown on his face. "I promise to help when I get back, alright?"

"Actually, I should probably finish mine." Kameron suggested. Emily gave him a look.

"I was going to go alone." She told him. He frowned.

"I can't come with?" He questioned. She sighed.

"Not unless you want to see your gift before I wrap it." She said sternly. He sighed.

"Fine. I'll do mine on my own too. Think Calla would drive me?" He questioned before looking around. "Hey, where is Calla?"

"Mission Command. Working on something." Leo waved dismissively. Justine frowned.

"Hey, I was going to ask…" She trailed off, frowning. "Noah told me a while ago that Mom, Dad, Uncle Chase, and the other members of the Elite Force were supposed to call sometime around Christmas. That hasn't…I didn't miss it, right?"

"Um…" Charlotte turned and looked at her dad, frowning. Calla hadn't been sure of the exact day, but I knew it was supposed to come close to Christmas. The other kids all stopped what they were doing, even Emily, to look at Leo and Katherine.

"You didn't miss it." Leo was quick to assure her of that. He looked around. "We're still waiting for them to make contact. But when they do, MISS is going to send everyone a message to let them know, so you guys won't miss it."

"Are you sure they're going to contact us this time? They missed last time." Sera mentioned, looking at Leo with big eyes. He sighed.

"Space travel is complicated guys. They'll do their absolute best." He promised. "I'm sure we'll hear from them soon."

"Alright." Kameron sighed. Naomi cleared her throat.

"So, Sera, have you ever been ice skating?" She asked, smiling as she changed the subject. "The park always makes an ice rink for people to skate on. Ben and I go every Christmas Eve."

"You should come." I added, following her lead. She sent me a gratefully smile – ice skating had been our tradition, but I understood why she wanted to bring the kids. They could use the distraction. "There's a hot cocoa place nearby."

"It sounds great." Sera smiled. "But I've never skated before."

"Oh, it's easy." Noah assured her, giving her a smile. "And with your ice powers, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it pretty quick. You're a fast learner."

Suddenly, an alarm started blaring across the penthouse.  _"Miss Calla would like everyone in Mission Command immediately."_ MISS announced a moment later, the alarms shutting off so we could hear her.

"I guess ice skating and shopping will have to wait." Leo announced.

**Emily's POV**

"What's going on?" Naomi demanded as we reached Mission Command. Mom was the cyber computer, looking between two different security cameras.

"A break in at two of my top-secret facilities." She explained, gesturing to the screens. She looked at Leo as he walked up next to her. "The ones in Aurora and Rockford."

"Shit." He muttered.

"Are those ones special?" Kira questioned. Mom nodded.

"Rockford houses the projects for military contracts. Not weapons, thank god, but transportation, defense systems, stealth operation technology, that kind of thing. The type of stuff that would it that much harder for us to find Lexi, Marcus, and their friends." She explained. "And Aurora holds…the more sensitive stuff."

"What kind of sensitive?" Ben questioned. Mom and Leo exchanged looks.

"The kind of sensitive where it would be really, really bad if they got their hands on anything there." Leo said slowly, not elaborating.

"So we need to get there, fast." Kameron decided. Mom nodded.

"Alright. Katherine, you take Charlotte, Seraphina, and the twins to Rockford. Leo, Ben, Naomi, Noah, and Emily, you're going to Aurora. Find the intruders, stop them before they take anything dangerous." She grabbed a box of Davenwatches off the counter. "They're the geo-leaping ones, finally past proto-type stage. I'm not supposed to be giving these to anyone just yet – we haven't gotten approval for distribution from the government yet – but frankly, you're going to need them for missions."

"What about me?" Justine questioned. Mom gave her a small smile.

"I could use a lab assistant." She suggested. Justine smiled. "Alright, go to that cyber desk and start going through the inventory list for Rockford's facility. Mark whatever is dangerous or that they could use to get the upper hand on us. I'll do Aurora."

"Got it." Justine nodded, rushing to the secondary cyber desk. Mostly everyone went to get changed, while Naomi lingered for a moment.

"Did you finish what I asked for?" She asked, looking at Mom hopefully. The older woman smiled a little.

"It's in your uniform pod." She mentioned. Naomi grinned in response.

"Love you." She called over her shoulder before running into the tunnel with the uniforms. Sure enough, next to the black leather jacket and black pants that Mom had reinforced with protective materials for Naomi to use as a uniform, there was a small black and blue blaster sitting on a small pedestal, with a different looking Davenwatch next to it. It was mostly black, with dark green etchings in it.

"What's that?" I questioned, looking at it over her shoulder. She smiled, strapping on the Davenwatch.

"Just a little toy I had your mom make for me. I had a few ideas after watching some old training videos from the Academy." She explained. I nodded thoughtfully, then passed her to get my own uniform.

"Hey." I said softly to Ben. He was standing in front of his uniform – repaired and reinforced by Mom after the Saturn incident so that something like that would never happen again – but was making no move to take it. I glanced back at Naomi, then nodded at Ben meaningfully.

"You okay, Benji?" She asked, walking over. She kept her voice soft, careful not to draw the attention of the others. I turned away, not wanting to make it look like I was listening in.

"I'm fine." I heard him reach for the uniform. I heard Naomi sigh, and I knew why – this was going to be Ben's first mission since he was injured. Sure, Horace had cleared him for field work over a week ago, and though he wasn't completely at full strength, he still seemed to be mostly okay during training. At the very least, I wasn't worried about him being the weak link or anything. But I could see that he was still a bit more hesitant that he used to be.

"Are you sure?" Naomi asked gently. "Calla would understand if you need more time."

"I'm good, Naomi." He snapped at her. Everyone in the room stopped, looking over at him, and his face flushed with embarrassment. "Sorry."

"It's fine." She assured him, not unkindly, before going to pull her jacket on and zip it up over her green shirt. He sighed and started to get dressed.

"You guys ready to go?" Leo questioned just as Ben finished pulling on his jacket. I watched Charlotte, Kira, Kameron, Seraphina, and Katherine geoleap away. Ben looked at Noah, Naomi, and I before nodding.

"Ready." He announced, hitting his Davenwatch and disappearing.

**Ben's POV**

" _No sign of any intruder on this floor."_  Noah announced through the comm. set.

"Maybe he got away?" Emily questioned, looking over at me.

"No, Calla's security cameras would have seen someone leaving." I reasoned. "Everyone keep looking."

I shone my flashlight across the floor, the beam revealing boxes labelled with things like 'DWT-004' and 'HVB-112' along with signs that said 'do not touch' in giant, red letters. "It is quiet down here." Emily commented, looking around. "Kind of eerie, actually."

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry abou-hey!" I definitely saw movement out of the corner of my eye.

"What?" Emily turned around to follow my gaze. She frowned. "I don't see anything."

"I was sure-" Before I could finish my sentence, a blast of gold shot over our heads, hitting one of the boxes on the shelves. It exploded upon contact, the force of the blast knocking Emily to the ground. I rushed to help her up but stopped when I heard a familiar voice.

"You're still alive?" I turned around to see Saturn standing behind me, a look of annoyance on his face. There was a small, remote-like device in his left hand, a new version of his gold blaster in his right. "Don't you know how to die?"

"Why don't you show me?" I growled, stepping forward menacingly. He smirked and looked like he was about to respond when we both heard the sound of footsteps.

"Saturn?" I heard Naomi shout. He sighed irritably.

"Another time, perhaps." He replied before taking off running. But I wasn't about to let him get away this time. I tore off after him, following him through the rows and rows of inventions. I could hear Naomi and Noah behind me, but I was totally and completely focused on Saturn.

Saturn must have realized that he wasn't going to get away – even without my full strength, I was faster than he was – and I saw him fiddling with the device in his hands. I pushed myself forward, knowing that whatever it was, it had to be dangerous if Calla was keeping it here.

Suddenly, a faded gold circle appeared several feet ahead of us, the inside of it a misty gold color. Saturn didn't hesitate before leaping into it, disappearing the moment he made contact with it. He wasn't going to get away that easy.

"Ben!" I heard Naomi shout after me, but it was too late – I dived through the circle without a second's hesitation.

To my utter confusion, I landed in the middle of the Penthouse, surrounded by people in their late teens to early twenties. I stopped for a second, taking in the semi-familiar faces around me. Kaz, Alivia, Rani, Skylar, Calla, and Chase, all much younger than they should have been, and all staring at me with shocked and confused expressions.

"Whoa." Naomi whispered, appearing beside me just before the circle disappeared. I shook myself – I had to get Saturn, before he got away. I could deal with…whatever this was, later.

"Hey, I don't suppose you guys have seen this guy we're chasing? About yay-high, black and gold trench coat?" I questioned, gesturing. The guy who looked like Kaz silently pointed to the door, looking stunned. "Thanks!" I called, grabbing Naomi's hand – she was staring at them, as stunned as they looked – and dragging her out with me.

We went straight down the elevator to the bottom floor in the span of a couple of seconds, and raced outside just in time to see Saturn's trench coat duck into an alleyway beside the building. "Saturn!" I shouted, lunging after him.

He sidestepped me, causing me to go past him, and quickly pointed his weapon at me. "Stand down, Saturn." Naomi warned, holding her own blaster up. He raised a hand towards her, but to my relief, didn't quite attack yet. "Stand down, and we'll go easy on you."

"Nice try, princess." Saturn retorted, shooting a blast of electricity at her. Instead of ducking, Naomi dropped to one knee and raised on arm to defend herself. My heart clenched for a moment, but then a plasma shield burst from her special Davenwatch, and the blast hit it harmlessly. I lunged at Saturn again, only for him to shoot me in the chest.

I hit the ground hard, the breath rushing from my lungs, but to my shock, the golden blast didn't burn like his old one had. Raising a hand to my chest, I felt the material vibrate a little, the uniform undamaged.  _Thank you, Calla_ , I thought; whatever she'd reinforced my uniform with must have been specially designed to protect me from his gold attacks.

I looked up just in time to see a proton ring break up the fight between us and Saturn. Looking over, I saw the others from the Penthouse watching us warily.

"Someone breaks into my home, I'm defending it. Besides, you were taking too long." Younger Calla said in response to something the Younger Chase had said, a fierce look on her face. She had a baby bump, just like she did from where (or possibly when) we were from, but it looked smaller than her current (or future?) one. "Look, why don't we all take a breath, talk this out? At least stop attacking each other long enough to explain why and how you appeared in our living room."

"Yeah…not feeling it." Saturn retorted, aiming his weapon at the Younger Calla and firing. Both Naomi and Young Chase reacted at the same time, the bionic hero stepping in front of his wife with his plasma shield forming in front of him while Naomi raised her shield-bearing arm in front of them. The blast hit Naomi's shield harmlessly, causing the younger heroes to stare at her. Saturn raised his other hand, holding the remote. "Well, it's been a pleasure." He announced, opening another circle portal.

"No, you don't!" I pushed myself back to my feet and charged towards him, but he disappeared through the portal before I could stop him. It disappeared just before I could grab him. I felt a rush of anger and spun towards Calla, pissed off. "Calla, you let him get away! What the hell?"

The girl looked at me, confused, then glanced at Naomi. "I'm sorry, how do you know my name?" She questioned carefully. I stopped in my tracks, looking over her and the others. Some part of my mind had connected the dots before, but now it was really hitting me just how young they looked, and how there was no way I was looking at the faces of people who had saved Centium City nearly twenty years ago. I wasn't even sure they were all twenty years old.

I looked back at Naomi, and saw my shock mirrored on her face. Somehow, Saturn's device, or rather Calla's device, had sent us back in time? It was so bizarre that I almost dismissed the theory outright, but what other explanation could there be?

"Yeah, okay. Start talking." Kaz ordered. I stared at him, struck by how much Kameron looked just like his father. It was uncanny. "Who are you?"

"Uh…" I trailed off, looking at Naomi for help. If this was weird for us, I could only imagine how weird it was for them. And it occurred to me that every time travel movie ever, along with the few scientists that were studying it, all agreed on one thing: don't tell the past about the future. "None of your business?"

The dark-haired woman that could only be a younger version of Rani 'Nyx' Shore sighed irritably. "Let's try this again, shall we?" She questioned before grabbing me by the arm and spinning me around to face her. She raised one hand and smoky slivers of shadows surrounded the clenched fist. I looked down at it, fully aware of how much damage she could do with her powers. "Who are you, how do you know our names, where did you come from, and how did you appear in our penthouse?"

"And who was that guy?" The red-headed, Irish hero that I knew instantly as Alivia 'Geminus' McLean added. "Why were you attacking him?"

"Well?" Rani insisted when I didn't answer at first. I looked over at Naomi helplessly.

"Uh, Shutterbug, you wanna take this one?" I called to her, hoping that using her old nickname would get her to help. To my surprise, she narrowed her eyes, smirking.

"Nah, you've got this." She replied. I looked at her, annoyed. "Hey, you said that Nyx doesn't scare you. You said you were stronger than everyone in the NLH."

"Is that so?" Rani smiled, her teeth bared in an almost fearsome expression. I saw the shadows dancing around her fist grow in both size and speed, and I gulped nervously.

"You're not helping." I told Naomi.

"Wasn't trying to." She replied, tone falsely-sweet. I looked at her, confused. She was clearly unhappy about something, but I had no idea what it was about. Chase stepped closer to the girl, clearly waiting for an answer. Naomi sighed. "You're not going to believe us." She told him, almost apologetically.

"Try us." Kaz challenged. Naomi gulped nervously, looking between them all.

"Okay, well, I'm Naomi." She began slowly.

"Naomi…?" Calla questioned, waiting for a last name. Naomi glanced at me and I shook my head – we shouldn't tell them the future, a voice in the back of my mind kept telling me. But Naomi wasn't one to listen, was she?

"Davenport. Naomi Davenport." She answered and I sighed. She looked at Chase. "I'm your sister, half-sister…ish. I'm Donald and Tasha's daughter." She looked at me before finishing, eyes wide. "We're from the future."

They all stared at her for a long moment before Kaz finally spoke. Eyes still wide, he said, "Oh, Oliver and Dani are so going to regret missing this."

**Emily's POV**

"And then the portal-thingy just closed behind them." Noah was saying, pacing back and forth across the floor.

"And you have no idea where they went?" Mom pressed, looking at Noah in concern. After Ben, Naomi, and Saturn disappeared, we'd searched for about an hour before going home to regroup, with no idea where they could be or what had happened to them.

"Is there anyway you can track them?" Kameron questioned, looking at my mom.

"If I knew which device he used, then maybe, but…" she trailed off, clearly frustrated. Katherine looked between her and Leo, confused.

"'Ow many portal makers do ya 'ave?" She questioned incredulously. Mom and Leo exchanged looks.

"Twenty-four?" Mom guessed. Leo frowned.

"I thought it was twenty-seven." He said, just as uncertainly. She thought about it before turning back to us.

"Between twenty-four and twenty-seven." She decided.

"Please stop inventing stuff." Noah almost begged. She gave him a look.

"Do you know what the device looked like?" She questioned. He shook his head. "Alright, I'm going to have MISS do a facial recognition search. MISS, find them, alright?"

" _Yes, Miss Calla."_  MISS replied. I sighed.

"I shouldn't have let Saturn's attack knock me down like that." I muttered, feeling guilty that I hadn't been able to help them.

"It wasn't your fault, Emily. You couldn't have known that Saturn stole a portal maker." Seraphina assured me gently. She looked around. "I'm just glad we were able to get to the other facility before Jupiter could get what he was looking for."

"What was he looking for, anyway?" Kira questioned. Justine cleared her throat, straightening up from where she was sitting.

"Well, he tried to break into Sector J. That's where Davenport Industries keeps their heavily armored transport vehicles." She explained. Kameron thought about it for a second before turning to stare at my mom.

"He tried to steal a tank?" He demanded, eyes wide. Mom shook her head.

"No!" She waved the idea away. "I don't make tanks – it's an armored SUV that's impervious to most known powers and abilities."

"So it's a tank, but cooler." Kira clarified, grinning at her brother. Mom shook her head, but didn't argue with the kids.

"Well, they didn't get it, which is important. Now, we just need to focus on what happened to Ben and Naomi." She sighed getting up. "I'll start going through my designs, try and narrow down which one it was. Noah, you're sure you didn't see anything else?"

"I didn't even see the device itself, Calla." Noah sighed, shaking his head, stopping at the cyber desk. He ducked his head in shame. "We should have been faster. I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault, Noah." Sera reassured him. Justine nodded.

"You went as fast as you could." She added. I cleared my throat.

"It was a remote." I mentioned, looking at Mom. "And the portal was gold-ish? The edges were, at least."

"Gold?" Leo repeated, sounding confused.

"Does that mean something, Papa?" Charlotte questioned, frowning. Leo looked at Mom.

"I don't remember working on a gold one." He mentioned to her. She shook her head.

"Neither do I. Gold, are you sure?" She questioned me. I nodded, a little offended that she didn't believe me.

"I know what I saw." I insisted. "It was a gold ring with a misty gold inside to it."

"Misty gold?" Mom repeated, confused. "No, that can't be right. The closest thing I have to that would be the-"

She stopped dead in her tracks, a look of surprise and realization coming over her face. "Mom?" I questioned. Mom ignored me and looked over at Leo.

"Do you remember how I told you I stopped working with Zeta fuel?" She asked. He gave her a look.

"Tell me you're joking." He muttered in annoyance. Mom waved her hands at him.

"No, no. I did stop." She assured him. "After a little incident with Saturn, Ben, and Naomi."

"You're kidding." He stared at her, no longer annoyed, but somewhat stunned. Katherine looked equally shocked.

"That's today?" She questioned. Mom nodded.

"Seems like." She agreed. The rest of us all exchanged confused looks.

"Do you wanna fill us in, or are we supposed to guess what this…mind meld is all about?" Kira questioned, raising her hand slightly as if we were in class. Mom sighed and turned around.

"MISS? Do you still have footage from the first time Saturn appeared on your scanners?" She questioned loudly.

" _The footage has been degraded over time, Miss Calla, but my hard drive still contains some stills_." The AI replied. Mom nodded.

"Show us, please." She requested. The holoscreen turned on and showed a somewhat distorted image of the upstairs living room. Saturn was standing in the middle of it, surrounded by a confused looking…Kameron and Sera? It didn't look just like them, but they were way too familiar to ignore. A second photo showed a similar image, but with Ben and Naomi standing in Saturn's place, wearing their mission uniforms.

"When was Saturn in the Penthouse?" Kameron bristled, eyes wide. He looked at Kira, then at my Mom. "He's broken in before? Should we be worried?"

"No, no. It's okay." Mom was quick to reassure him.

"When were these taken?" Seraphina questioned. Mom glanced at Leo and Katherine before answering.

"May 7th, in the year 2020." She answered. We all stared at her.

"I'm sorry, what?" Noah demanded, eyes as wide as saucers. Mom sighed and sat down in one of the chairs by the cyber computer.

"So, a long time ago, I'd been working on cracking time travel. And I did." Well that was the first I'd heard of THAT. "I used a kind of fuel from Caldera in order to make it work, but I did. And I created a few prototypes. Including one that looks like a remote and has a gold circle design like that." She sighed. "I always knew that Saturn stole one of my devices and used it to travel back in time, I just didn't have any context."

"So what do we do?" Kira questioned. "How do we get them back?"

"We don't." Mom decided, shaking her head. We all looked at her. "Chase and I helped them get back to the future in the past. We just have to wait until they show back up."

"And when will that be?" Kameron asked impatiently. Mom shrugged.

"Tonight? Maybe tomorrow? Somewhere around then." She decided. I sighed irritably.

"But you don't remember?" It wasn't like Mom to be so vague about that kind of thing. She gave me a look.

"Emily, you weren't even born yet. Your father's the one with the computer memory, not me." She reminded me, not unkindly. She looked around at all of us. "Look, guys, I know it's freaky and scary, and really worrying, but I know from actual memory that they're okay. And you will see them really soon, I promise. So try not to worry about them, okay?"

"Okay." We all replied half-heartedly. Katherine clapped her hands together.

"Why don't we all get back to decoratin', shall we?" She suggested. "And then maybe we could try that skatin' idea that Ben 'ad earlier?"

She and Leo ushered everyone into the hyperlift. I, however, lingered when I realized that Mom was hanging around in Mission Command. "Hey, Mom?" I asked, a little uncertain. She looked up at me from where she'd begun to focus on her work again.

"Yeah, baby?" She asked. I bit my lip, rubbing my arm. "They are going to be okay. I promise."

"I know, it's not that…when's Dad supposed to call?" I blurted out. She stopped what she was doing, her smile disappearing for a second. "I was just wondering."

"I-I don't know yet." She answered, giving me a smile that felt…strained, almost. "But it should be soon. I'll let you know the second he does."

"Alright." I agreed a little sullenly. She nodded at the hyperlift.

"Go on. Didn't you have some shopping to do? Maybe you could take Kameron with you." She suggested. I nodded, though I knew that wasn't going to happen.

"Alright." I said again, heading for the hyperlift. I stopped at the door. "Hey Mom?"

"Yeah?" She looked at me, her smile feeling more natural now.

"They're okay, right? Like, nothing's wrong or anything?" I asked. She nodded.

"Everything is fine, Emily." She assured me. I nodded. "Everything is perfect, I promise."

**Ben's POV**

"What was that before?" I hissed to Naomi, eyeing the others in the room carefully. They'd decided to wait until they could get Bree and Jaden Parker here to discuss the situation. Dani and Oliver Short were nowhere to be found, apparently unreachable. She glanced at me, but didn't answer. "You mad at me for something?"

"You need to chill a bit." She snapped at me, keeping her voice low. I could see Calla and Skylar both eyeing us carefully.

"Excuse me?" I questioned, confused. She gave me a look.

"Recklessly jumping through that portal, yelling at Calla?" She reminded me. "I know you want to get Saturn, but that's not helping."

I hesitated. She was right; if I'd been a little more careful, we wouldn't have gotten caught up in all of this. But at the same time, if I hadn't, Saturn would have gotten away…even more than he already had.

I was startled by a sudden knocking on the door. Kaz, who was standing nearby, was quick to open it. "Seriously? Time travel?" Bree demanded, pushing past him as Jaden followed him in, pushing a baby stroller. Naomi craned her neck, smiling a little at the sight of her sleeping nephew in the stroller.

"According to them." Chase looked at us. Bree turned to us, eyeing Naomi carefully.

"You're Naomi. You're my sister." She didn't sound like she believed us, but I didn't really blame them. It was super freaky to us, let alone them.

Naomi smiled at her sister. "Yeah. Hi Bree, it's good to see you." She replied. She glanced at me. "This is Ben VanOver, by the way."

"People call me Aftershock." I stood up to shake her hand. She didn't take it, instead looking at me carefully.

"Wait, Ben VanOver?" Jaden questioned. "Isn't that-"

"Tecton's son. That's who he claims to be." Alivia confirmed, crossing her arms, looking at me as if trying to see the resemblance between me and my dad.

"It's the truth!" I snapped, uncomfortable with the scrutiny I was under. Naomi hit me in the leg, giving me a look. Right, I needed to be calm.

"I told you that you wouldn't believe us." Naomi sighed, shaking her head and dragging attention back to her. "Why does this stuff always happen to us?"

"Hey, it's your whack-job family." I retorted. She gave me a look, but I smirked back. If she wanted to joke around, so could I.

"How would you two even meet?" Skylar questioned.

"There was a party for the tenth anniversary of Mighty Med 2.0. I got dragged along because she funded the project," Naomi explained, pointing at Calla, "and rather than sit around and be bored, all of the kids locked themselves in the cafeteria and had a food fight with the leftovers."

I smirked at the memory. At 12 and 10 respectively, me and Naomi had been older than the rest of the kids, and it had been the only idea either of us had had to entertain ourselves. Teamed up with 7-year-olds Noah and James, we'd basically had the other kids running for cover.

"We kicked butt." I commented.

"Yeah we did." Naomi fist-bumped me in return.

Chase sighed, clearly not liking the situation. "How do we know you're telling the truth?"

I hesitated, then pulled out a phone-like device. While Naomi preferred the old kinds of cameras, I used the Davencamera whenever I took photos. I opened it up and showed them a picture from the first time Chase had run for Senate. There'd been a celebration thrown by the Davenports when they'd thought he was going to win; unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way, but at least it was a good photo. It showed the older Davenport and Dooley siblings and their spouses, along with Emily, Justine, Noah, Frank, and Charlotte. Somehow, one of the other, younger kids at the party had managed to photobomb the photo, but no one had really minded.

"Check it out." I said, showing them the holoimage. "This was taken at a party about four years ago."

"What kind of party?" Jaden questioned.

"It was a celebration. Chase-" I was cut off by Naomi rudely stepping on my foot. "What was  _that_  for?" I demanded. I was playing nice!

"Regardless of whether or not you believe us, we can't tell you the future." She told them, giving me a look. Right, I'd gotten ahead of myself there. "Remember what happened when Kaz travelled back in time?"

"Future Kaz stopped Oliver from turning evil. I don't exactly see that as a bad thing." Skylar pointed out.

"Sure." I nodded, though that wasn't the exact story. Kaz had travelled back in time more than once in his life, and the second time had some unintended consequences, both good and bad.

"If you're so worried about not screwing up the future, why'd you travel back in time then?" Rani asked. I looked at Naomi.

"Well…it really wasn't on purpose." I explained, chuckling a little. Frankly, the whole situation was a tiny bit funny. If it weren't for Saturn being mixed up in all of this, I'd have been cracking jokes about it by now.

"It just kinda happened." Naomi agreed. Jaden chuckled at that. He glanced at Bree and Chase.

"Huh, she just happened to accidently do something weird and science-y that landed them in trouble? Oh yeah, she's definitely a Davenport." He decided.

"I can't believe Dani and Oliver are missing this." Kaz said again, shaking his head. He didn't seem worried about them though, so I assumed that wherever they were, they were safe.

"How do you accidentally time travel?" Alivia demanded, still having trouble wrapping her head around all this. Naomi and I smartly kept our mouths shut, but did happen to glance over at Calla at the same time. Kaz followed out gaze, then chuckled.

"You've got to stop inventing dangerous things, Calla." He commented, smiling until she sent him a deadly glare.

"In her defense, the device was stolen. And look, it doesn't matter how we got here, we just need to get back, now." I looked at Naomi. For the first time, it was occurring to me that we had no exit strategy. If we didn't figure this out, we could be stuck here, and then the team would be left without a leader. "The team needs us."

"I'm sure they can handle one day without us. Besides, Saturn is the priority." She looked at me and offered me a smile, as if to say 'just because I don't want you to be reckless, doesn't mean I don't want to catch him too'. She turned back to the others. "Look, I can't tell you everything, but I can tell you this: we're facing a new team of villains, Saturn's one of them, and if we're going to figure out what their endgame is, we need to capture him. Before he hurts anyone else."

She silently slipped her hand on top of mine when she said that last bit, squeezing it gently. I looked at her in surprise, but didn't say anything as the others started to debate our story.

"I guess we're believing them about them being from the future?" Skylar questioned skeptically. I sighed; there was one way to prove this.

"Look, if you really don't believe us, you can test my DNA. All superheroes have their DNA put into the Mighty Med 2.0 system the moment our powers start to develop, right? My super strength came in when I was two. My DNA should already be in the system." Admittedly, I wasn't all that eager to be poked and prodded at Mighty Med again, not after just leaving there a month ago, but if it got them on our side.

Kaz nodded thoughtfully at the idea. "We do it so that, if the heroes have specific weaknesses, we can create cures or vaccines for them so we're not scrambling in the event of an emergency." He explained. I nearly snorted in amusement – that didn't' exactly help me, now did it? But I guess when you're the only superhero with your weakness, then finding a solution isn't a priority.

"We can have Horace test your DNA against our Ben's." Skylar agreed. Chase nodded.

"Alright. Aftershock, go with Kaz and Alivia to Mighty Med 2.0. Naomi, I want you to stay here and tell me everything you can about Saturn, as much as you can without disrupting the timeline," He emphasized when Naomi opened her mouth to object, "Calla, you mind getting MISS to see if you can track down Saturn?"

"How? It's not like he's in our database or something." Skylar pointed out. Calla bit her lip for a moment, considering, then smirked.

"I've got a couple of ideas." She assured us. With that, she turned towards the hidden elevator and headed down to Mission Command without explaining her plan. Skylar, Kaz, and I started to leave, but Chase stopped us for a moment to have a word with Kaz. I looked past them both at where Naomi was sitting on the couch. She gave me a reassuring smile.

"See you soon." She mouthed to me, almost teasingly. I rolled my eyes.

"Alright, c'mon Possible Baby Tecton." Kaz patted me on the shoulders, pushing me out the door.

"I really don't like being called that, man." I sighed as we stepped into the elevator.

**Xxx**

Obviously, the DNA test confirmed who I was, and by time Kaz, Alivia, and I returned to the Penthouse, Naomi had already filled most of the team in on what we knew about Saturn. Chase was sitting across from her, jotting things down on a pad of paper.

"Did he check out?" He questioned as we came back.

"One hundred percent; he's Baby Tecton." I sighed irritably at the nickname. "Sorry, Adult Baby Tecton."

"It's Ben. Or Aftershock." I corrected, shaking my head. "I'm twenty-two, for God's sake. People seriously need to stop calling me Baby Tecton."

"Easy, VanOver." Naomi chided gently before glancing at the others. "He's sensitive."

"No, I'm not." I just didn't like being called by that nickname, alright? It wasn't a hard concept to grasp.

"So, do you have enough proof or what?" Naomi asked, changing the topic. Chase sighed.

"Okay, we believe you." He assured her. They all turned to Skylar and Kaz to fill them in on what they'd missed.

"Alright, here's what we know. Saturn's electrokinetic like Dani, but much more powerful – he's electro-telekinetic as well, and apparently can use his electricity to create much bigger things than just lightning balls." Calla explained. Kaz's eyes widened.

"Electro-telekinetic?" He repeated. Chase sighed.

"It means that he can move things without touching them, much like my telekinesis, but through the power of static electricity instead of psychic ability." He explained, not really having the patience to explain things over and over again. Kaz shook his head.

"No, I know that it means." He looked over at Skylar and Alivia. "Electrokinesis, electro-telekinesis, weren't those…"

"Megahertz's powers?" I interrupted him, realizing where he was going with this. He nodded, frowning. "Saturn's his son."

"Wait, he reproduced? With who?" Alivia demanded, stunned.

"Yeah, that's a mystery you guys have been trying to figure out since we first learned about him." Naomi replied, nodding in agreement.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Bree asked, looking at Naomi and I. "We track him down, catch him, then send all of you back to the future?"

"Yeah, about that…" I looked over at Naomi, wondering if she had an idea. "How do we do that exactly? We weren't planning on time travelling…were we?"

"No!" She gave me a look.

"Well, with your family, it's hard to tell sometimes. It was Calla's device, after all." I pointed out.

"He does have a point." Rani announced, leaning on the back of the couch behind Naomi. "I mean, how are we supposed to get them back to the future? Are we stuck with them?"

"We can  _not_  be stuck here." The very idea of being trapped in the past…we HAD to get back.

"Well, we do have a working time machine." Jaden suggested. Naomi and I both stared at him, along with Rani.

"Calla built one a year and a half ago." Chase explained before looking at Calla. "But can it travel with three people?"

"No. It's a one-person ride, and since it can't travel across time without someone piloting it, you can't just make numerous trips." She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Chase sighed.

"So, not only do we have to figure out how to find and stop Saturn, but we also have to figure out how to send all three of them through time." He muttered. Calla raised her head at that.

"Actually, about finding Saturn, I had an idea." She pulled out her tablet, a non-holographic device that hadn't been used in the past eight or nine years in our time. She handed it over to me, showing me the map of the city on it. There were two little, yellow blips flashing on it, both of them sitting near the center of the map, and very close to each other. "Okay, so when I was originally building my time machine, I noticed that the Zeta fuel gave off radiation waves. Nothing harmful, but enough that I can track it." She added the last part as reassurance, noticing the looks on our faces.

"Okay, I'm guessing these are us?" Naomi questioned, leaning over the edge of the couch to peer over my shoulder, her head just barely grazing my arm. "Shouldn't Saturn be on here?"

"He should, but he isn't." Calla confirmed, sounding pleased that Naomi came to that conclusion so quickly. "Which means that he must be underground, since that's the only place I wouldn't be able to track him. Which he must be in the-"

"Tunnels underneath the entire city, I know." Naomi nodded, smiling a little. She sat up properly so she could gesture at the map. "I started mapping the tunnels a month ago with your daughter. Now, I'm familiar with the tunnels on this half of the city," she drew a line with her finger down through the map, "but she mapped this section."

"Wait, back up. Daughter?" Skylar repeated. I looked at Calla and Chase, who were both staring at Naomi. Calla's hands were resting on her baby bump, eyebrows raised.

"Oh, crap, you didn't know the gender yet?" Naomi realized, eyes wide and her tone apologetic. "Sorry."

"Well, I guess we can cross half the name suggestions off the list." Calla mumbled to Chase.

"And that means that Hot Dog is still in the running!" Kaz grinned, punching his fist into the air. I looked at him, eyebrows raised. Wait, what?

"We are not naming our daughter 'Hot Dog', Kaz." Chase sighed.

"Wait, she was almost named 'Hot Dog'?" I chuckled. Well, at least something good came out of this. "Oh, I'm so going to tease her about that later."

"Don't." Naomi had to stop herself from smiling.

"Uh, back to the point guys?" Rani called. "It's great that, once he comes above ground again, we can find Saturn, but we still have to worry about catching him."

"And getting us back to our present." I added. Chase considered it for a moment before making a decision.

"Okay, we split up then. Two teams, each dealing with a problem." He told us. "Calla and I will stay here and work on the time travel problem-"

"I'll help too." Naomi offered. She sent me a wry smile. "I may not be our team's resident genius, but I did intern at Davenport Industries for a couple of years in high school."

"I'll stay behind too." Rani added. Alivia frowned at her suspiciously.

"Why?" She questioned. She shrugged.

"New spell book, new spells, I might be of some use." She reasoned. Alivia still frowned, looking like she wanted to argue with it, but decided against it.

"The rest of us will take the tunnels." Skylar decided. "Ben, Kaz, and Bree, you guys take the north side of the city, Alivia, Jaden and I will take the south."

"Here." Naomi pulled out her own Davencamera, the one she used more for documents than her actually photography. "I've got a map of that half of the city on there."

Alivia smiled at her. "Thanks." She turned to Kaz, Bree, and I. "Call the other team immediately if you find him, alright?"

"Good. If we can't find him in…" Kaz glanced at his watch, "…two hours, we meet back here to come up with a new plan?" Jaden nodded.

"Agreed." He decided. I glanced at Kaz and Bree before we could leave.

"Give me a second?" I requested. They both nodded and I turned to Naomi before pulling her off to the side.

"Hey." I murmured. She smiled at me, a little confused.

"Hey." She replied. I glanced at Rani, noticing how the witch was watching us.

"Do you remember what was going on for the Elite Force in 2020?" I questioned. She thought about it. "With S.H.I.R.T.?"

"Argento, right." She nodded. She looked over at Rani. "Spotlight was one of the ones he took, right?"

"You can't tell her anything. No matter how much she presses." I had a feeling that was why Rani wanted to stay behind. Naomi nodded absently. "Naomi, you can't."

"I know." She sent me a look before sighing. "They're all okay, though, right? Scarlet Ace, Spotlight, Kieran, and Taylor? They're fine."

"Exactly." I nodded. "So not saying anything isn't going to hurt them or put them in more danger. Saying something might." I reminded her. She nodded.

"They'll be fine." She repeated to herself before looking at me. "Alright, go on."

"I'll see you later." I promised her. I started to step away, but she grabbed my wrist, stopping me.

"Just…keep your head, alright? I don't want to see you get hurt again." She bit her lip worriedly. I smiled kindly back at her.

"I'll be okay, I promise." I assured her.

**Kira's POV**

"Well, this sucks." Justine said to me and Charlotte as she plopped down on the couch in front of us, looking disappointed. Charlotte frowned.

"Calla said they'd be alright. And my parents seem to agree with her." She reasoned. Justine rolled her eyes.

"Well, of course they'll be alright. I'm pretty sure my mom and dad mentioned the time Naomi time travelled before." She shrugged. "I just didn't think much of it at the time. Like, don't you guys do this kind of stuff all the time?"

"No." "Not even close." Charlotte and I said at the same time, shaking our heads and giving the twelve-year-old girl a look. She sighed.

"Then what on Earth was the point of Noah getting bionics?" She complained. I smiled a little.

"Because it's fun?" I suggested. She gave me a look.

"It can't be that fun if time travel is weird to you guys." She grumbled before sighing. "Whatever. Mom and Dad are still going to kill him when they get back."

I laughed a little at that. From what I knew about Bree and Jaden Parker, they sure weren't going to be happy with Noah. Hopefully they wouldn't make him deactivate his bionics or get Calla or Davenport to remove the chip though. That would really suck.

"So, what sucks then?" Charlotte asked. Justine sighed.

"Well, I was going to see if you guys wanted to help me get Ben and Naomi under the mistletoe. They  _obviously_  have chemistry." She said. I internally grimaced at the idea. Things had only just started being normal between Ben and Naomi again. As far as I knew, neither of them had really talked about what had been said between them, and they were both trying to ignore it. Of course, it wouldn't, couldn't last forever, but it didn't seem like the right time for us to interfere.

"Maybe we should let that one happen naturally?" I suggested. Justine sighed.

"Well, who else is there?" She questioned. "You two aren't crushing on anyone, right?"

"No." I shook my head. Justine looked at Charlotte pointedly.

"I don't have any crushes." She insisted. Justine raised an eyebrow. "Who would I be crushing on?"

"What about Kameron? He seems nice, and he's really cute." She glanced at me. "Sorry."

"Moving on." Charlotte said impatiently. Justine sighed.

"Emily's not crushing on anyone, I think. What about Seraphina?" She asked. We both looked over at the tree, where Sera and Noah were hanging decorations. We watched as Noah gently reached over her to attach a dark blue Christmas ball to a branch above her head for her. "Wait, is something going on there?"

"I don't think so…" I trailed off, as I wasn't completely sure. Charlotte glanced at me and Justine, then grinned.

"Operation: Noaphina?" She suggested. Justine smiled, but I gave her a confused look.

"Noaphina?" I repeated. Justine rolled her eyes.

"We can come up with a better name later, Kira." She assured me dismissively, grinning all the while. "Let's do this."

**Ben's POV**

"Well, this is boring." Kaz complained as we made our way through the tunnels. I glanced back at him and almost chuckled. It was strange to see them all so young, but Kaz especially – we'd gone on missions before, had trained together. He'd been a really big influence in my superhero training growing up, and here he was, younger than me and acting like a typical teenager. It was freaky as all hell.

"Stop complaining." Bree told him before walking up beside me. "So, I've got a question for you."

"If I tell you about the future, Naomi will kill me." I commented. She shook her head.

"No, no, it's about you and Naomi. You two seem pretty close." She observed. "Are you guys together, or just friends?"

"Honestly? No clue." The past month had been…different. At times, it was like we were back to being best friends, and at others, it felt like it was more than that. I'd wondered if I'd just been reading too much into it, but I wasn't totally convinced it was all in my head. "It's complicated. We're still figuring it out."

"Been there." Kaz chuckled in agreement. Suddenly, Bree's phone vibrated. She answered it quickly.

"Hey." She greeted before pausing to listen. "Okay, what are the coordinates?"

"Saturn's above ground. Calla just sent us the coordinates!" Bree told us, hanging up. She handed us her phone before speeding off in the direction of the coordinates. Kaz took one glance at it, then turned to me.

"C'mon, I know a short cut!" He told me. He led us through another tunnel and towards an old ladder leading up to a manhole. He gestured at me to go first and I did, pushing the manhole cover off once we got to the top.

"How'd you know about this place?" I questioned as we climbed out behind what looked like an archaic arcade. I offered him my hand, pulling him the rest of the way up.

"I brought Dani here on a date once." He explained before pushing the manhole back into place. He led us out onto the street. "Now, Saturn should be around here somewhere…"

"Found him." I said, pointing at the sky in time to show him a lighting bolt that had shot and blasted from the clear sky above. We glanced at each other, then raced in that direction.

**Xxx**

Kaz and I raced around a corner to find Bree already facing off against Saturn, the two of them fighting in front of a bus station. Maybe part of his plan was to escape before Naomi or I could get him?

Bree was keeping the criminal busy and occupied, but wasn't exactly landing many blows. Instead, she would speed around him, going far faster than he could react to, then try to lunge at him. Unfortunately, Saturn had fought his share of speedsters in the past and knew how to handle her. He wasn't landing any hits of his own, but carefully aimed blasts of lightning at her feet were keeping her from touching him either.

I sighed to myself, then turned to glare at Saturn. I had not travelled this far to let him get away. "Hey, Saturn!" I called before leaping at him, using all my strength to propel myself forward. I twisted around at the last minute, not at all surprised by the lightning bolt that Saturn and landed in front of him as planned. I dropped down low and swung my leg out to knock him off his feet, but Saturn side-stepped the attack and landed a sharp kick to my face. I fell backwards, one hand instinctively reaching towards my face. My nose didn't feel broken, thankfully, but it definitely hurt.

Bree took her opportunity to attack Saturn, slamming into him at full speed and knocking him back a few steps. He dropped to one knee, winded, but shot a wave of electricity out at her. It wrapped around her instead of blasting her, Saturn using his electro-telekinesis to lift her from the ground and throw her into me. She hit me before I could get back up, and we both his the ground with a thud.

Kaz shot a large ball of fire at Saturn's head, then leapt into the air after the fireball, flying towards him. Just as Kaz apparently anticipated, Saturn managed to nullify the fiery attack, using his own lightning to destroy the fireball before it could make contact, but he certainly wasn't expecting a 160 pound teenager to come hurtling towards him like that. Kaz managed to land a strong punch to his jaw.

It knocked Saturn to the ground, but the electrokinetic was quick to respond with an attack of his own. He slammed his hand onto the ground, sending an electrical charge outward , at Kaz, much like how I would sometimes use my earthquake abilities. Bree, who'd finally climbed off of me, and I were both out of range, but Kaz took the full force of the shock, dropping down to the ground with a shout as painful electrical waves took over his body.

"I'll distract him, you hit him." Bree muttered to me before standing up straight. "Hey! Trench Coat!" She shouted at him. She started to speed towards him, but, while she was still out of the range of his electrical ground attack, she leapt into the air and towards the brick wall nearby. She rebounded off of it with practiced precision, using it to push her in the direction of Saturn.

I followed after her, knowing that he would be too preoccupied with trying to deal with her to notice me. As expected, he turned to use his electro-telekinesis to catch her midair before she could land a blow, just as Kaz kicked his legs out from under him. He dropped Bree to try and deal with Kaz, and that's when I lunged at him from behind, tackling him to the ground harshly.

"Here!" I heard Skylar shout, somehow appearing right at the perfect moment, and I wrestled Saturn onto his stomach, pulling is arms behind his back roughly. Skylar handcuffed him using power-nullifying cuffs, then motioned for me to get off of him. I rolled off of him, moving to sit next to him on the ground.

"Took you guys long enough." Kaz joked. I laughed in earnest, my head falling back. We caught Saturn. I'd caught Saturn. I'd done it before, in the past, but doing it now, after he beat me last time? It felt like winning the lottery. It felt better than anything I'd ever felt. He was captured. He was done. I got to my feet, feeling very accomplished.

"Well, it's not like we were looking for him on the other side of town or something." Alivia commented sarcastically in response to Kaz's joke.

"Guys, it doesn't matter." Jaden told us, lowering his blaster. "We got the guy, right? That's the important part."

I nodded in agreement. "Yes, it is." I bent down to address Saturn, my nemesis glaring silently at me. "We're going to have a nice little chat when we get home about you and your little friends, aren't we?"

He didn't respond at all. "I think he's looking forward to that chat." Alivia commented. I looked up and grinned at her. Oh, it was going to be one hell of a chat.

**Kira's POV**

Well, 'Operation: Noaphina' wasn't exactly off to the best start. It seemed that everything we tried just wasn't working. But I had to admit, it was very amusing to witness.

The first attempt was rather simple – a piece of mistletoe hung over the box of tree decorations. But after nearly thirty minutes of neither of them being underneath the leafy plant at the same time as the other, we finally caught a different couple under the mistletoe: Leo and Katherine.

"Ew." Charlotte wrinkled her nose in fake disgust as her parents kissed sweetly. Leo chuckled at Charlotte's reaction as he pulled away, while Katherine gave her daughter a half-amused, half-stern look.

**Xxx**

The second attempt was in the park, when the rest of us had gone skating. Emily and Kameron were still gone shopping, so we'd all gone without them. Calla had also stayed behind, claiming that she was still working on something. Leo had tried to get her to take a break but was unsuccessful.

The mistletoe was hung carefully over the entrance to the rink. Sure, we would get a lot of people unintentionally, but we were sure to get Noah and Sera.

"C'mon, guys." Charlotte insisted, sweeping onto the ice and skating forward onto the ice with an unexpected amount of grace. She stopped several feet in front of the entrance, smiling brightly. "What are you waiting for?"

"I've never skated before." Sera reminded us, looking at the ice a little uncertainly.

"It's okay." Justine offered, standing right in front of me near the back of the line. "Noah can help you." She pushed her brother forward a step towards Seraphina.

"Whoa!" Apparently, Justine had pushed him a little too hard, because he knocked into Sera, who was consequently pushed onto the ice. Sera went flying straight into Charlotte who, unprepared, was knocked down onto the ice. "Oh, I'm sorry!" Sera apologized, scrambling off Charlotte clumsily, hands and knees slipping on the slippery surface.

"It's fine." Charlotte grunted as Sera finally got off her. "I'm good."

"You sure, Charlotte?" Noah asked, sending Justine a dirty look for pushing him. The twelve-year-old shrugged in response. "You've got to be more patient, Juju."

"It's okay, I'm fine." Charlotte waved them off. Noah offered Sera his hand, pulling her onto her feet.

"C'mon, it's not that hard. I'll show you." He told her, leading her off to the side. I skated forward and helped Charlotte up.

"Plan B was a bust." I commented. She let out a slow breath.

"Plan C then." She decided irritably.

**Xxx**

"Okay, this has got to work." Justine muttered intently, watching Seraphina and Noah with narrowed eyes. We'd managed to convince the lady working at the hot cocoa booth to let us put mistletoe in the front window of her booth, and we were currently watching and waiting to catch Noah and Sera underneath.

"You know, most people would be weirded out by setting their brothers up." I commented from where we were sitting, watching, as the two of them got into line.

"Meh. Noah needs a good girl in his life." She shrugged. "Blake was nice and all, but she doesn't really get him. Sera does."

"So, is this about getting him a kiss, or getting him a date?" Charlotte questioned. She shrugged.

"Who says it can't be both?" She questioned, smiling a little.

"Oh, oh." I grabbed their arms, watching as the couple in front of Noah and Sera moved on. But just before they could step underneath the mistletoe, the wind picked up and blew the bill that Sera'd been holding out of her hands. She ran to chase after it.

"It's okay, she has to come back." Charlotte was quick to reassure. Justine shook her head.

"Doesn't matter." She pointed at Noah, who was currently paying for the hot cocoas with his Davenwatch. To our disappointment, he walked away with the cocoas to where Sera had managed to collect the bill.

"I give up." I sighed, shaking my head and getting up to get my own cocoa.

**Ben's POV**

"Look who we've got!" Kaz announced as we walked back into Mission Command, dragging a reluctant Saturn in with us. He was furious and quiet, but frankly, I was alright with it.

Naomi, Rani, Chase, and Calla were all waiting for us, Naomi and Calla standing next to what I had to assume was supposed to be our ride home. I examined the time travel device skeptically. I knew that most of the prototypes from back here would be less sophisticated than the stuff we had in the future, but this looked a little…unsafe. Calla's time machine was essentially 3 car seats attached to a number of cannisters, with one control panel. Unfortunately, because Saturn had crushed and destroyed the remote portal maker, it was our only option.

"Nice." Naomi smiled brilliantly at me, sharing my enthusiasm. "This is perfect. Now we can finally get some information out of this guy."

"And just in time too; the time machine is ready." Chase announced. "We've altered it to seat three, Rani's spell will keep it secure, and you have enough fuel to get back to when you're going."

"Sit down." Jaden gestured at the seat with his blaster, looking at Saturn. The villain scowled, but did as he was told, glaring at us the entire time.

"So, back to the present, I guess?" I looked at Naomi. She nodded and turned back to the Elite Force.

"Thank you. For helping us get back, and for helping us get Saturn. You have no idea how long we've been trying to capture this guy." She told them sincerely.

"Anytime." Bree drew her into a hug. "You're family."

"Stay safe." Chase added, also hugging her. "And try to stay out of trouble a little than we did."

Naomi cracked a smile. "Yeah, neither of those are very likely to happen, but I'll try my best." She promised. I nodded to them respectively.

"Good luck with…everything." I told them, remembering how crazy their final year as a team was like.

"I assume you're talking about our missing friends?" Skylar guessed.

"…And other things." Naomi glanced at me before offering them a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, it'll all work out."

"Mostly." I added. Naomi slapped my arm.

"Dude!" She snapped at me.

"I'm sure we can handle whoever took them. Whom, I suppose, you're not allowed to tell us the identities of?" Alivia looked at us hopefully. When we didn't answer, she sighed. "Well, it was worth a try."

"Good luck." Naomi told them again, taking a seat. I sat down next to her.

"You too." Calla told her. I glanced back at her as Naomi pressed a button on the machine. Suddenly, there was an strong gust of wind, a blinding light, and suddenly we were sitting in the middle of the Penthouse living room, the shattered remains of the coffee table underneath us. Leo, Noah, Seraphina, Kira, Kameron, Katherine, and Justine standing around us, definitely caught off guard by our sudden appearance.

"We're home." Naomi announced, smiling at the stares she was receiving.

**Xxx**

"So, they're going to keep him in isolation for a couple of days, see if that loosens his tongue a bit." Calla announced, walking back into the Penthouse after escorting the S.H.I.R.T. agents down to the main floor. She nodded at Naomi and I. "We can talk to him then, see what he knows."

"Alright. Sorry about your coffee table." I apologized, looking over at Leo who was sweeping away the glass. "I can…pay for it."

"Nah," she patted my arm, "I've been looking for an excuse to replace it for ages now."

"In that case, you're welcome." Naomi told her. Calla smiled a little at that, but something felt off about it. "Everything alright?"

"Great." She replied. She started to walk away, then stopped and turned back to us. "Really good job, guys."

"Thanks Calla." "Thanks." We replied. She headed back down to Mission Command, and I turned to Naomi.

"Is she okay? She seemed off earlier too." I commented. She shrugged uncertainly just as the front door opened. Helix trotted inside, a gift bag in his mouth and a Christmas hat on his head. Emily and Kameron followed him inside.

"You're back!" Emily gasped, dropping her bags and running to hug Naomi.

"You guys went shopping together?" I questioned, a little surprised. Kameron and Emily shared a look.

"No." "We did not." They replied. I frowned, but neither one of them elaborated.

**Emily's POV**

"Merry Christmas." I greeted as I came down the stairs, Helix running ahead of me. He was wearing one of his many Christmas sweaters, this one green with candy canes on it. He immediately ran to bury himself in the presents, my beloved and weird pet liking to smell them, though he'd never damaged them in the past, so I wasn't worried.

"Good morning. I take it Christmas is the one day a year that you wake up early willingly?" Kameron chuckled, looking up from where he was leaned on the couch, examining the endless sea of presents under the tree.

"Yep." I replied, leaning next to him, smiling as I saw the gifts moving around as Helix sniffed his own gift out. "What are we looking at?"

"It's just…there's a lot more presents out there than I thought there'd be." He admitted as some of the others started to make their way down the stairs.

"Mom didn't want you guys to feel left out since your moms and dads aren't here." I explained, smiling to Justine, Sera, Noah, Naomi, and Kira as they walked down the stairs.

"Whoa." Kira's eyes widened in surprise. I laughed a little.

"Is everyone up?" Charlotte questioned, bursting in. Justine was right behind her. "Mom and Dad are just getting dressed – they'll be here soon."

"And I have coffee." Ben announced, catching the door with his foot before it could slam shut behind Charlotte, carrying two trays of to-go cups in his hands. I smiled at the three of them, waving a little.

"Great. Where's Calla?" Naomi asked, looking around. To our surprise, she was not in on the main floor. "MISS?"

" _Miss Calla is in Mission Command."_ The AI replied. Ben sighed, placing the coffee on the counter.

"I'll get her." He offered, heading down to Mission Command. Kameron grabbed my arm and turned me towards him.

"Hey, listen, about yesterday…" He trailed off. I raised my chin, shaking my head.

"I don't want to talk about it." I insisted. He looked like he was going to argue with me. "And you're not going to tell anyone, got it? Or else."

"Emily…" He trailed off, uncertainly.

"You're not going to tell anyone." I repeated sternly. He sighed. "Please? I'll tell Mom once I come up with more than empty results, I promise. But let me talk to her."

"Alright." He agreed, offering me a smile. "But don't be an idiot about it."

I rolled my eyes. "Please. I'm a Davenport. Being an idiot isn't in my blood."

He snorted in amusement. "By the way, 'or else'?" He questioned. "What was your 'or else' going to be?"

I smirked, then glanced past him to see Charlotte and Justine talking by the stairs, just out of earshot. "Or else I'd tell Charlotte you have a crush on her." I whispered. His expression changed from amused to horrified in a second. "Don't worry, I won't."

"You know about that?" He hissed. I stood up properly and Kameron followed my lead.

"Everyone knows about it. Well, except Charlotte." I hissed, making sure to keep my tone quiet enough that Charlotte could not possibly overhear. "Seriously, man, we all have bets on this turns out."

He stared at me, looking a little shaken, but not freaked out about it. "What did you bet on?" He asked, sounding almost as if he didn't want to hear the answer. I smiled at him.

"I'll tell you when I win." I told him, glancing past him. "By the way, I'm not sorry about this."

"About what?" He asked, confused. I smirked, then pushed him backwards just as Justine pushed Charlotte backwards, the two of them colliding into each other.

"Mistletoe!" Justine, Sera, and I called all at the same time, pointing at the conspicuously hung mistletoe plant hung from the ceiling, Charlotte and Kameron standing underneath.

The two of them looked at each other in surprise while we all stared on, waiting. "Uh, you don't…we don't have to…" Kameron mumbled, ears turning red from embarrassment. "We don't have to-"

To his clear surprise, Charlotte leaned forward and pressed her lips against his in a quick, chaste kiss, smiling shyly at him. "Merry Christmas, Kameron." She told him before skipping off towards the presents before kneeling down to play with Helix.

"Merry Christmas, Charlotte." He smiled to himself. I laughed a little, feeling good about that, before going to go play with Helix too while we waited for the parents to join us.


	15. New Year's Revelations

**Emily's POV**

"Grandma!" Justine was the first off the hyperloop, immediately running to hug Grandma Nicole. Noah, Charlotte, and I all went to hug Grandma Tasha, Grandpa Donny, and Great-Uncle Douglas, while Kameron, Kira, and Sera all hung back a bit.

"Hi sweetheart." Grandma Tasha greeted me before hugging Charlotte, then Justine, then Noah, and finally Leo and Katherine. She looked past us at Sera and the twins. "You must be Seraphina, Kameron, and Kira."

"Yes Ma'am." Sera replied. Tasha smiled and motioned for them to come closer.

"Call me Tasha, or Grandma Tasha. All the kids do." She told them, offering them hugs as well. "I'm sorry you couldn't go home to New York for New Years."

"It's okay. We went home to visit on boxing day." Kameron replied. "Besides, we're curious what you guys do for Christmas."

"Well, we do it up right, that's for sure." Adam commented, walking in with Taylor. I smiled; the Bionic Christmas Party was always the best part of the holiday season. Since villains didn't necessarily take a vacation for the holidays, they'd all worked out an arrangement. The New League of Heroes would take Christmas Eve/Day off while the Bionic Academy picked up the slack, and the Bionic Academy would get New Year's Eve/Day off while the New League of Heroes would handle world protection for the day. Next year they'd switch, and we'd actually celebrate Christmas on Christmas.

"Mom says she's sorry she couldn't make it." I apologized. "But

"Mom, Leo, and Katherine, and A says she's sorry she couldn't make it." I apologized. "But Ben and Naomi will be by later. They're just stopping in to say hi to Ben's mom first."

"Did Calla say why she wasn't coming?" Tasha asked.

"It's a S.H.I.R.T. thing." Leo explained. "AJ's staying behind to work on it with her, and then they're supposed to meet up with Daniel, Jazz, Bob, and Zoey at some ski lodge in a few days."

"Well, at least she's not alone. Calla's always worked too hard." Nicole sighed, shaking her head.

"We all agree." Kira added, earning a smile from the retired police captain.

"I take it you're the one who planned that amazing baby shower?" She guessed. Kira beamed in response. "Well, you certainly can consider yourself a member of the family."

"Cool." Kira grinned as the adults lead us into the main part of the academy, to the dome in the center of the island. Christmas decorations were everywhere the eye could see, with green, white, and red strings of garland taped up at the top corners of the room, with a large, white Christmas tree in the center of the room, filled with orange, red, green, and yellow decorative balls and items. There was a very long table at the far end with foods and drinks on it. Next to the food table, the doors to the cafeteria were wide open, revealing a room full of games and activities instead of the usual tables and chairs. All the other kids of the original bionic soldiers, about twenty of them, were all hanging either in here or the games room.

"Hey, you guys are going to be good?" Leo checked with us. We all nodded in response. "Okay, I have to go talk to Big D. We'll be close by if you need us."

There was a lot to do, and plenty of people to hang out. Noah went to hang with some of the oldest in the room, over by the food table. Justine immediately went to join Valerie Daniels, her best friend at the Academy, and went with her to go play with Valerie's dog, Amy. Sera, Kameron, and Kira looked a little out of place at first but were quickly welcomed in by Dallas Krane and our cousin Frank.

"Hey guys." Charlotte and I waved at Frank and Dallas as they came over. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas. How was your holidays?" Frank asked. I shrugged.

"It was okay." Charlotte replied. Dallas smiled.

"How was talking to your parents?" He asked. I felt my stomach drop, and watched the smiles on Charlotte, Kameron, Kira, and Sera's faces fall. Frank elbowed him roughly.

"Dude!" He scolded. He gave us an apologetic look. "Mom told me they couldn't call. I wasn't supposed to mention it."

"It's fine." Kameron said quietly.

"Sorry." Dallas apologized.

"It's cool." I told him, though it still bothered me. There'd been some sort of bad solar storm that had interrupted communications, making it damn near impossible for us to make contact. It had hurt that we couldn't talk to them, especially with so much going on. We'd all kinda just agreed to pretend nothing was wrong though – it was easier than talking about it.

"Do you guys wanna go play holo-tennis with us?" Frank suggested, changing the subject. Sera's eyebrows raised at that.

"What's holo-tennis?" She asked. Kira grinned.

"You don't have that on Caldera?" She asked. Sera shook her head. "Awesome! C'mon."

She proceeded to drag a confused Seraphina towards the games' room, followed by Kameron, Dallas, and Frank. Charlotte went to go with them, then stopped when she realized I wasn't following. "Are you coming?"

"Nah, I'll catch up." I assured her. She gave me a look. "I brought my swimming suit. It's been forever since I went swimming, and it's not like any of the pools are open in Centium City this time of year."

"Fine." Charlotte rolled her eyes before running after our friends and cousin. I smiled to myself and walked out of the Christmas party, intending to get some work done.

**Calla's POV**

I looked up from my holocomputer as Jessica DeCook walked into the conference room, along with Alivia. "Sorry, I had to drop Rosemary off at her grandfather's." Jessica explained. I nodded.

"Thank you for coming." I told them, nodding.

"It sounded important. Lily can handle the city for a few hours on her own." Alivia took a seat next to AJ, while Jessica sat across from her next to Miles. She looked at her husband, then at me.

"Now what is going on?" Jessica questioned. "It must be pretty serious if we're meeting in secret like this."

I nodded. "No one can know about this, not until…" I broke off, my throat dry. "Not until…we know more."

"More about what?" AJ demanded, looking at me. I hesitated, looking back at my holocomputer, trying to figure out how to phrase this.

"Calla?" Alivia pressed. I raised my head, about to speak, when Miles beat me to the punch.

"The Elite Force are missing."

**Noah's POV**

I looked over the array of chips, cookies, brownies, and snacks on the table, trying to pick something tasty.

"Hey, I thought you were hanging with Brennan, Gina, and Percy." Adam commented, walking over. I looked up at him as he did.

"Kinda got bored." I shrugged. "What's going on? I thought you went with Leo."

"Uh, yeah, Davenport wanted to talk to him about some stuff." He waved it off, grabbing a paper plate and filling it with shrimp. "You have to try this stuff. Bob's a genius."

"Calla would disagree." I commented, smirking.

"Calla doesn't know what she's talking about." He rolled his eyes. I smirked a little.

"So, what's up?" I questioned. He shook his head.

"Nothing. I just wanted to check in." He commented. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"If this is about Mom and Dad not being able to call…" I began, but he quickly shook his head. "Then what, man?"

"Nothing." He lied. I nodded.

"Alright, fine." I leaned against the food table and started to snack on chips.

"So, how's school?" He asked. I groaned and turned back to him. He raised his hands in defense. "Hey, I want to have this conversation as much as you do. Davenport told me to."

"Calla wasn't supposed to say anything!" I protested. He shook his head.

"She didn't." He replied, shrugging.

"Naomi? Emily?" No reaction. "I swear to god, if it was Justine, I'll kill her."

He laughed. "Charlotte, actually."

"Damn it, kid." I muttered, shaking my head. He chuckled.

"Look, I get it if school isn't your thing. I was never the biggest fan of school myself." He admitted. I nodded.

"I know. Mom said you probably would have flunked out if it weren't for Calla and Chase." I remembered. He shrugged.

"More Calla than Chase. He wasn't the best teacher back then." He replied. "But this isn't about me."

"It's not about not liking school. I just…" I sighed, shaking my head. "I'm not a STEM guy; numbers aren't really my thing. Humanities are boring, business is too much like law, and public affairs aren't really my thing either."

"Well, you can't  _just_  be a superhero." He pointed out.

"Why not?" I questioned incredulously. I looked at him. "I'm not saying that's  _the_  plan, but why can't it be  _a_  plan?"

"Money, for starters. Almost every member of the NLH has another job. And there's no way Davenport will put you on the payroll as a bionic hero; your parents would kill him." Adam pointed out, unusually logical about the whole thing. I sighed.

"And disown me." I added. "If they don't already."

"Meh, Calla would take you in." He shrugged. "She's not afraid of Bree or Jaden."

"Well, what else am I supposed to do then?" I questioned. He thought about it, grabbing more shrimp.

"What about an arts program?" He suggested, shrugging. I wrinkled my nose.

"I pretty much failed every art class I ever took. No offense to Mom, but arts careers are a waste of time in my opinion." I argued. He snorted in amusement. "What?"

"Nothing. Just don't ever tell that to a girl you want to go out with." He suggested, shaking his head. "For some reason, they're all equate 'artistic' with 'sensitive', and apparently, that's 'sexy'."

I snorted in amusement. "You're really glad that Frank's a guy, aren't you?"

"So much." He agreed. "But hey, art doesn't have to be good to be art. Just ask Davenport."

I frowned. "What do you mean, 'ask Davenport'?"

He looked at me. "Oh, you haven't seen the art vault yet, have you?" He chuckled and put his arm around my shoulder. "Oh, do I have a treat for you."

**Calla's POV**

The others all exchanged looks at Miles' words. "What do you mean 'missing'?" Alivia said slowly, looking between me and Miles.

I took a deep breath.  _Okay, I could do this. Just keep it professional._

"The Elite Force was first supposed to make contact with Earth on October 31st. However, there was disruptions in the signal making it impossible to make contact." I explained, showing a holographic timeline with October 31st marked by an orange blip.

"Due to solar flares." Jessica remembered. AJ sighed.

"We were only partially sure that was what was causing it." He told her, shaking his head. "It could have been anything, but with nothing else to go on, we had no reason to question it."

"Okay, what about a week ago? They weren't able to make contact then, right?" Alivia questioned.

"Yes. It was the same kind of interference as before, but this time, there was no reason for that to be happening. No solar flares, nothing." I explained. Jessica nodded thoughtfully, frowning deeply.

"What did you tell the kids?" She asked softly. I sighed.

"Solar storm. I didn't want to scare them." I told her. She nodded again, understanding on her face. I pointed at the timeline, and another blip, this one green, appeared further down the line.

"That was December 24th. The next check-in is supposed to be January 7th, but frankly, I'm not too confident about them making contact then."

"There…there could be other reasons why they didn't make contact, right?" Jessica asked, looking around. Miles sighed and took her hand.

"There's more." He told her, squeezing her hand before getting up. I sat down in his place, allowing him to take the floor. I felt Jessica rub my shoulder gently, and I took a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves.

"So, as you're all semi-aware of, S.H.I.R.T. has been working on creating treaties and agreements with a few of our nearby, planetary neighbours, including Malmarn."

"So, Davenport Industries is allowed to make non-weaponry trade deals with planets like this. We mainly focus on communications, transport, etcetera." I explained, leaning forward on the table. "I cut a deal with the Malmarnians where I would give them their next shipment of communications equipment at cost if they could send me satellite photos from the time when their ship should have passed Malmarn on their way from Caldera to Venusia."

"And?" AJ questioned. I blinked, leaning back in my chair.

"And there was nothing. No sign of the ship. No sign of anything." I said, shaking my head.

"Could they have taken a different route?" Alivia asked sharply. Miles shook his head.

"No." I answered before he could. "Not without extending their trip by weeks at the least. Chase and I went over it over a dozen times."

"So…they're missing." AJ realized. I nodded silently, the others all exchanging looks as they processed this information.

**Emily's POV**

"Alright-y. Just you and me now." I said to the holo-cyber computer in front of me. With Eddy now deactivated, I didn't have to worry about the AI ratting me out to my grandfather, or about him being a pest and getting in my way. Once I'd deactivated him, it had been easy to sneak into the lower, submerged section of the island where my grandfather kept the more dangerous and classified technologies. "Now, work with me for a little bit, and I'll give you a nice tune-up, alright?"

The computer hummed, almost in response to my words, and I smiled in response. I raised my Davenwatch, and the photos I had on it transferred to the computer. I turned around in the chair and cracked my knuckles. "Okay…"

"There you are." I froze at the sound of Seraphina's voice. I spun around quickly, using my powers to shut down every monitor and holo-projector in the room as she approached the computer. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." I lied, smiling brightly at the girl. She raised an eyebrow at me. "How'd you find me down here?"

"I have good hearing, and you left the door open to the stairway. You're not really doing nothing though, right?" She questioned. I nodded, getting up.

"Nothing at all. Hey, I love what you did with your hair!" I exclaimed, false-excited. It was really just a simple braid down her left side, the one streak of light blue in her hair mixed into the brown locks.

"Oh, really?" She gasped, reaching up to touch her hair. I nodded, stepping closer.

"I love what you did with-hey!" I protested as she stepped around me and lunged at the computer, turning it back on before I could stop her. "Sera, wait!"

She stepped back, staring at the what was on the screen. "Emily…"

"I can explain." I insisted, getting up. She didn't even look at me. "This isn't what it looks like."

"So, you're not using Mr. Davenport's highly advanced holo-computer that's connected to nearly a dozen government and military satellites around the world to track down Darius? And you didn't use your powers to bypass what I'm guessing was a military-grade security system intended to keep criminals and people like you out it?" She questioned, tone raising in pitching accusingly. I sighed.

"Okay, so maybe it's exactly what it looks like." I admitted. She looked at me, eyes wide. "Look, I can explain!"

"Emily," Sera looked at me, "Calla said that we couldn't use Davenport's military cyber computer, that until Darius does something serious enough to classify himself as a terrorist, we could not get permission to use this technology for that. That using this technology for breaching security rights like that was illegal."

"It's only illegal if someone dies or we get caught." I reasoned. She stared at me. "Look, I'm just going to use one of the satellites, alright? I know he's still in Centium City."

"Okay, we only have time to unpack the second half of  _that_  now." She shook herself. "This is why you haven't been freaking out about him being…on the bad guys' team? Because you were looking for him?"

"I…I just want to talk to him." I mumbled. I looked at her. "I just…I need to understand. And I need to talk to him."

She sighed. "How do you know he's still in Centium City? He could have bailed. Actually, it would probably be smart of that entire cabal of criminals to just leave since we have Saturn now."

"Cabal of Criminals, I like that." I hummed thoughtfully. She rolled her eyes.

"Emily!" She snapped. I sighed.

"I've been tracking him for a while now." I admitted with a sigh. "It started out with a couple of sightings from MISS. Not perfect shots – she was only able to give a 60% confirmation on them."

"And you knew about this before Calla, how?" Sera questioned.

"I may have told MISS to tell me first, then only tell Mom if it was an 85% confirmation or higher." I explained. She looked at me. "Mom wouldn't investigate anything less than that anyway, and it allowed me to look into the lesser possibilities."

"And what did you find?" She pressed. I sat back down in the chair.

"I tracked him to a homeless shelter near the mall, and…I went to it." I finished slowly. If it were at all possible, her eyes would have widened even more.

"You went alone?" She demanded.

"Well…no, actually." I sighed. "Remember when I went to go shopping on the 24th? I took Helix with me."

As expected, her expression changed to one that definitely was questioning my intelligence, "No offense Emily, but Helix is hardly a dangerous dog."

"He can vicious when he wants to be." I retorted defensively. "And anyway, Kameron ended up following us when we didn't get off at the mall. So he came with too."

"And what happened?" She questioned. I dropped my head down a little.

"He'd left. Didn't say where he was going." I mumbled. The lady running the shelter could only confirm that he'd been there, not where he had left for. I looked back up at her. "But him being at the shelter to begin with…he must have left his mother and their team."

"You don't know that." Sera shook her head.

"What other explanation is there?" I protested.

"I don't know, to lure you into a trap?" She guessed. I shook my head.

"You're just like my mom. He's not a bad guy!" I argued, standing up to face her.

"You don't know that." She told me, keeping her voice calm.

"You don't know that he is!" I argued. She sighed.

"Emily, that was dangerous. And I can't believe Kameron kept that secret." She muttered the last bit, shaking her head. She looked at me pleadingly. "You can't do that again, Emily. And you can't do this."

"Why not?" I growled.

"Well, again, this part is technically illegal." She pointed out. I rolled my eyes; did she have to keep focusing on that part? "And the first part is dangerous."

"I'm not going to stop looking for him just because you, my mom, and everyone else think he's a bad guy." I snapped. She sighed.

"Then at least take one of us with you. Me, or Kameron. Not just Helix? Even if he's not dangerous, his family are and they might be around." She pleaded. I sighed.

"Fine." I agreed reluctantly.

"And no breaking the law." She added. I sighed. "We can find him another way."

"Alright." I agreed. She smiled and offered me her hand.

"C'mon. Frank found old photos and videos of you guys growing up and he wants to put them on the holo-projector." She told me. "I'm curious to see what evil genius concoctions you came up with when you were little."

"Oh, they would scare you." I agreed, taking her hand and letting her lead me out of the room.

**Calla's POV**

"So, what are we doing about it?" Alivia questioned. Miles and I exchanged looks, which upset the Irish superhero. "Well?" She demanded. "What are we doing about saving them?"

"The current plan is to mount a rescue. Send a ship after them. But there's problems with that." I sighed, leaning forward on the table so that I could rub my face with my hands without having to lift my elbows from the table.

"You'd have to get approval from the Coalition to take a crew on an intergalactic mission intending on intruding on an occupied planet." Jessica mentioned. She looked around and nodded to herself. "I can streamline it, but it'll take a few weeks at least."

"Oh, that's fine. We don't have a ship capable of that level of spaceflight ready since they took our only one, and even if we start production now, the new one won't be ready until February." I threw out there. "And then it'll take us four months to get to Venusia, so we won't even arrive until June." I shook my head. "They'll have been gone for ten months by that point."

"But we don't have any better solutions." Miles commented with a deep sigh of his own. He sent me an apologetic look that I purposefully ignored. Alivia nodded thoughtfully.

"Alright, say that's what we do, who goes? I noticed you said 'we'," she turned to me. "You'll be, what, 6 months, final trimester, by then? You can't go."

"I know." I nodded regretfully. I felt like it should be me going on the trip. It was my former team up there, my husband, my brother, my weird family of friends. It should be my responsibility to save them.

"It can't be you." AJ commented, turning to Alivia. "It'll be eight months before you return; you can't take that amount of time off from the League."

"Dani and Kaz are two of my guys, and the others are all family. I'd go for them." She insisted. Miles shook his head.

"Alivia, that won't work. It won't be like when Spotlight and Scarlet Ace went missing – if something went wrong, you were able to come back or at least consult. That wouldn't be possible." He shook his head. "Realistically, you can't take that kind of time off from the League and I can't take that kind of time off from S.H.I.R.T."

"Then who goes?" Jessica questioned, leaning back in her chair.

"Ben's volunteered." I informed them, addressing Alivia especially. "He's not working right now, aside for from the League, he has no other responsibilities, and he's got hero experience."

"He'd have my approval. He already knows?" She checked. I nodded.

"Yeah, he um…he caught me at a bad time." I admitted. I was very grateful that no one asked for further explanation. "Leo is also aware, and he's informing Davenport, Douglas, and Adam as we speak."

"Naomi?" Jessica checked. I nodded.

"Ben would have told her this morning." I said.

"Who else would go?" Alivia questioned. She looked at me. "I've got other heroes in similar positions to Ben. I'm sure they'd agree to go."

"Leo's going to see if Adam can pick volunteers. I suspect he would want to go as well." I added. She nodded.

"So, we have a team, and a plan." She decided. She looked around. "We should keep thinking on it though. I'd like to see if we can find something quicker."

"Of course." Miles nodded in agreement. I sighed and leaned back in my chair.

**Noah's POV**

"Hey," Naomi smiled at me in greeting as I made my way into one of the side classrooms. Frank, Dallas, Seraphina, Kira, Kameron, Justine, Emily, Charlotte, Ben, and Naomi were inside, watching what looked like home movies on the holo-projector. "Where have you been?"

"Grandpa Donny's art vault." I answered, shuddering at the too-fresh memory. She grimaced sympathetically.

"Ouch." She said, almost apologetically. Ben chuckled.

"You are just in time." He told me before gesturing at the holographic scene at the other end of the room. I looked over at it, then groaned.

"Oh, god." I muttered, recognizing the scene as my 10th grade school production of Doctor Faustus. I heard Justine laugh as I took a seat next to Seraphina, who offered me some popcorn.

"I didn't know you were into theatre." She commented. I grimaced as the younger version of me fumbled with my lines. I grimaced. "No, it's cute."

"No, it's terrible. I was supposed to be helping direct, not act." I shook my head. "The guy who was supposed to play that part broke his ankle the week before the play, and then stupid Ezra Lewis got too drunk the night before to perform, so they threw me out on stage after giving me five minutes to prepare. It was a mess."

"You still looked like you were having fun." She commented. I glanced back at the holo-image. I had been having fun. It's why I was in theatre all through middle school and high school.

"Yeah." I smiled. "I guess I was."

**Calla's POV**

"Hey." I looked up at the sound of Jessica's voice. She was standing over me, her hand on my shoulder. The others had all left – AJ wanting to look over ship designs, Alivia needing to get back to her patrol of Centium City, and Miles needing to deal with some other agents. "How're you doing?"

"I'm fine." I said, nodding. She rolled her eyes and walked past me to sit down in one of the other chairs. She pulled it forward, sitting as close as she could to me.

"I'm not one of the kids. I'm not someone who works for you. I'm your friend; you don't have to wear a mask with me." She said softly. I looked at her, feeling tears well up in the corners of my eyes. "Calla…"

"They might not be missing." I told her, blinking harshly. "They could be…they could be…gone."

"We don't know that." She told me gently, squeezing my hand.

"They could be though. They could be, and…God, what am I supposed to tell the kids?" I sucked in a breath, feeling myself start to lose my composure. "God, how I am supposed to tell them any of this?"

"We don't know anything yet, alright? We just know we don't know anything." She assured me. I raised a hand to my mouth.

"God, Jess, they can't be…they can't be dead…he can't…" I was crying now, tears streaming down my face. Jessica leaned forward and pulled me into a tight embrace. "I can't do this without him, Jess."

"I know, I know." She murmured. I dropped my face onto her shoulder.

"I can't do this without him. One daughter going off to college, another on the way…I can't raise two daughters on my own." I cried. She rubbed my back gently. "He can't be gone, they can't be gone."

"It's going to be okay, alright?" She whispered, rubbing my back in a comforting manner. "It's going to be okay?"

Some time later, there was a knock on the door. "Uh…Calla?"

"Yes." I sniffed, quickly pulling away and turning away from the door so that AJ couldn't see me wiping my eyes. "Yes, AJ?"

"Uh…Saturn says he's ready to talk. Ben and the others are on their way back." He told us. I nodded.

"Great. Be there in a second." I told him. I took a few deep breaths to steady myself. Jessica looked at me in concern.

"Are you okay?" She asked gently. I shook my head, even as I forced a smile onto my face.

"No, but…fake it 'till you make it, right?" I took another breath, then nodded. "I've got this."

**Emily's POV**

"Okay, one hot chocolate, one regular black coffee, and two cappuccinos, one cali-style. Are Kameron and Sera sure they don't want anything? I can go back." I offered, holding the tray in one hand as I walked away from the coffee shop. By time we got back to Centium City, Ben, Naomi, and Leo had gone to meet Mom at the facility where they were holding Saturn, leaving the others to our own devices. And since Mom had neglected to buy more coffee while we were gone, I'd gone to do a caffeine run.

" _Nah, they say they're good."_ Charlotte replied. I nodded, even though she couldn't see it.

"Okay. See you soon." I hung up my Davenwatch. The second I did, someone suddenly grabbed me from behind, a hand covering my mouth. I screamed in reaction, but it was too muffled to be heard as I was dragged into an alleyway. I dropped the coffee and slammed my elbow into the ribs of whoever had grabbed me, but it didn't stop them as they pulled me out of sight of the street.

"Stop screaming, stop screaming." They said to me. I stilled instantly, eyes going wide. "Please, Em, I just want to talk."

This time, when I tried to push away from him, he let me. I stumbled away a few steps before turning around to face Darius, staring at him with wide eyes. "Where the hell have you been?"


	16. The Eleventh Hour

**Naomi's POV**

"Well, well, well. You certainly took your time." Saturn commented, tone oddly smug as Calla, Leo, Ben, Miles, and I walked into the interrogation room. He was sitting in the middle of the room, on one of the two chairs, with each wrist locked to one of his chair's arms by power-resistant cuffs. His supervillain suit was gone, replaced by a green and yellow prison uniform. Despite this, his eyes, a steely gray color, gleamed confidently and his smirk grew as we came in.

"Yeah, well, you're not exactly worth hurrying over." I commented as nonchalantly as I could, hoping to knock him down a few pegs.

"Ah, but the information I have is." He replied without missing a beat, flashing me a too-confident smile.

"Well, you're seeming awfully chatty today." Calla commented, sitting down in the other chair, sitting by the back of the room. She raised her eyebrows at him. "So why don't you start?"

"No so fast, sweetheart." Calla raised an eyebrow in distaste at his comment, but he only smirked in return. "I want a deal first."

"Of course you do." Leo rolled his eyes, shaking his head as Ben scoffed and moved to lean against the wall. I crossed my arms where I was standing, looking down at Saturn.

"What kind of deal were you thinking?" I questioned, thinking that we might as well hear what he wanted. It would help to get a better idea of where his head was at.

"Full immunity, of course." Ben couldn't stop himself from openly laughing at that request. Calla, Miles, and Leo both exchanged looks of annoyance and vague amusement.

"Yeah, not happening." I didn't have to consult with the others to tell him that. He smirked.

"Oh, it  _is_  happening." He insisted, leaning back as comfortably as he could in his chair. "Otherwise I'm not talking."

"You really think we'd give you full immunity?" Miles questioned. "Do you know how many people you've hurt?"

"No, but there's never been any critical injuries. Or deaths; I'd remember if I'd killed someone." He replied. Ben pushed himself off the wall and stalked towards Saturn.

"The only reason you've never successfully killed someone is because of me, asshole." He growled. Saturn smirked.

"And thus, I thank you for helping to reduce any prison charge I'll ever get." He announced, obviously trying to get under Ben's skin. "Regardless of why I never killed anyone, the prison sentence still won't be as bad as murder or manslaughter."

"This is your way of trying to get us to let you walk?" Calla questioned skeptically, cocking her head to the side a little.

"Oh, that's not going to be why you let me walk. You need my information, desperately, otherwise you'll never understand the boss' plan." He replied. "You can't afford not to work with me."

"Try us." Miles challenged. Saturn shrugged.

"Alright. Your funeral." He declared. "I just figured you'd want the info. They're the bigger fish –  _Benjamin_  here can try just catch me again next time I break the law. Or at least, he can try." Ben stopped when Saturn said his real name, and the villain smiled. "Oh yeah, I know who you are. I do my research."

"So do I,  _Milhouse_." Ben sneered, to the villain's surprise. "And from doing that research, I learned one thing – you're not stupid enough to betray your own team without one hell of a reason. What is it?"

Saturn didn't answer. I glanced at the others as I slowly realized something, then turned to Saturn. "They haven't come for you." He didn't say anything, so I continued. "You've been in our custody since the 24th; today's the 3rd. Reese and the others haven't come for you."

"Which means either you don't have enough information for them to worry about you giving up," Calla mused, coming to the same conclusion as I did, "or they just don't care. Either way, doesn't sound like its worth giving you immunity for."

"That's where you're wrong." Saturn commented, looking at her with a cold smile on his face. "But I supposed I don't have to tell you anything if you don't want to make a deal."

"Fine by us." Leo replied, starting to head for the door, until Saturn cut him off.

"Not that it's going to matter, anyway. They'll be coming for you soon enough anyway." He continued. We all glanced at each other. We didn't want to take his deal, but Reese and Lexi's team had been growing more and more confident. And the fact that they hadn't come for him could also mean that their plan was too dangerous for us to stop. Having the right information could be the difference between winning and dying here.

Saturn saw our hesitation and smirked. "Full immunity." He repeated his request before glancing at Ben. "Unless pretty boy here doesn't think he can take me on again."

**Emily's POV**

"It's a long story." Darius began, taking a step towards me. I scrambled for my paragun, ripping it out of my purse and aiming it at his chest shakily. He stopped in his tracks, looking between it and me with big, brown eyes. "Emily, I'm not going to hurt you."

"I don't know that." I whispered, my heart beating fast. It wasn't fear, I didn't think, rather some kind of exhilaration. I'd spent  _weeks_  looking for him, trying to find him, and now here he was. It felt unreal. I looked him over, taking in every aspect of his appearance. He was wearing old jeans that looked kinda dirty, and a plain black shirt underneath his favorite gray and dark blue sweater that he'd basically worn everywhere when we were dating and would not let me borrow at all. His hair was askew and there were deep bags under his eyes. "You look like shit."

"Thanks Em." He rolled his eyes, raising his hands. It wasn't an offensive move though; he raised them to show that he held nothing in them. "I really just want to talk, okay? I don't want to hurt you – I would never hurt you."

I bit my lip nervously, examining the earnestness on his face. Slowly, cautiously, I lowered my weapon, but I didn't dare put it away. "Emily…" He sighed, taking a cautious step towards me. I took one step back, shaking my head.

"You kidnapped Charlotte. You hurt Ben." I said, blinking back angry tears. He shook his head.

"That was Marcus and Saturn. Not me." He insisted. I rolled my eyes.

"But you're working with them. You're on their side." I insisted. He shook his head again.

"I left." He insisted. "I'm not on their side."

I looked at him. "And I'm just supposed to believe you're on ours?" I questioned sarcastically. He shook his head a third time. "Stop that."

"I didn't say I was on your side, Emily." He said softly. "I just said I wasn't on theirs. I'm not on anyone's side."

I frowned. I'd been expecting some teary apology, or a promise that he would help us, or maybe I even expected, a tiny, tiny bit, that he would attack me and prove me wrong about him. I wasn't expecting that. "What do you want, Darius?" I found myself asking.

"To talk." He said again. He looked around the alley. "Can we…can we go somewhere else? Somewhere less…well, you know."

I looked at him suspiciously, before noticing that he was shivering slightly in his sweater. It was beginning to snow too.

Maybe a change in location wasn't a terrible idea.

**Naomi's POV**

After some time deliberating over whether or not this was a really, really bad idea or not, we walked back into the room. Calla returned to her chair, this time watching Saturn more intently than before, with Leo at her side, while Ben leaned back against the wall and Miles and I took the floor.

"Just one question, Saturn." I announced before Miles could give him our decision. "Why now? Why today? Why not wait some more before talking?"

He smiled. "There's not much more time to wait." He replied before looking over at Miles. "So, do we have a deal or not?"

"We do." Miles agreed begrudgingly. Saturn raised an eyebrow.

"I want it in writing." He added. Miles rolled his eyes and pulled the document, already printed and signed, out of his back pocket. He held it up for the electrokinetic to examine, and after a moment, he nodded. "Alright then. Where do we start?"

"Try the beginning." Ben suggested passive-aggressively. Saturn sighed.

"Alright, well, first of all, you keep acting like the shapeshifter is in charge. Trust me, Reese's Pieces is bad, but this wasn't her plan. It was Lexi's." He told us. "I assume you heard about what happened with Blood Raven."

"He was the latest big bad in the villain world." Miles said, likely for my benefit. I wasn't as connected with the supervillain world as the others, but even I knew about Blood Raven; ever since Argento had been taken down a couple of decades ago, the metaphorical throne of the supervillain world had seen its share of tyrants, and Blood Raven had been the biggest bad for a couple of years now. "The Elite Force took him down with the rest of his warlock coven back in February of last year."

"Yeah, well, ever since then, his throne's been open for the taking. Just need to find someone dangerous enough to take over." Saturn explained. Ben scoffed.

"That's not you." He commented. Saturn glared at him, but didn't dispute it.

"You're right. I'm not exactly 'big fish' material. Neither are any of the others. Well, except maybe Catastrophe, but ever since Lexi only brought him back at full strength, Thing 1 and Thing 2 aren't the most dangerous in the room anymore." He chuckled a little. "But I mean, neither were any of the Elite Force, but together…" he whistled. "Well, let's just say we took a page out of your book."

"You combined your abilities to make sure no one could stop you, not even other villains." Miles realized. Saturn shrugged.

"It was Lexi's idea. She gathered us, brought Robo Boy and Red Face back from the dead." He explained.

"Yeah, about that, how?" Calla questioned. "I've read up on Catastrophe – he needed some sort of dyad to come back, and apparently, that was destroyed."

"Lexi's got a benefactor of some kind, someone who is very interested in putting us on top. And they have resources you couldn't imagine. Enough to make a functioning replica of the dyad." Saturn agreed. Ben stared at him.

"That's impossible." He declared. Leo scoffed.

"So was Marcus coming back from the dead, but here we are." He commented. He nodded at Saturn. "This benefactor, who is it?"

"No idea, never met them. But they are the same people who told us the Elite Force wouldn't be a problem anymore." He added. Calla stared at him and he shrugged. "We needed them gone, the boss' friends wanted them gone, it was a win-win."

"Where are they?" Calla's tone was measured, carefully controlled. Saturn shrugged. "Answer the question."

"Would if I could. Like I said, I have no idea who her friends are or what they're planning. I do know what she's planning though." He continued. "She wanted to start with Centium City."

"Because Chase and the others were gone?" I confirmed. To my surprise, he shook his head.

"Between Davenport Industries, Blizzard Corp, and Explority, Centium City is currently the biggest technology hub in the world, even bigger than Beijing and Berlin. Lexi's deal with her mysterious friends involved a tech trade – their stuff for yours. We just had to get past your little brats." Saturn explained, scowling. "They turned out to be much more annoying than we'd originally thought."

"We raised them well." Calla replied coldly, glaring daggers at Saturn.

"And then what? After they took Centium City?" Miles questioned.

"S.H.I.R.T., New League of Heroes, Bionic Academy." He counted them off his fingers. "Once we dealt with those idiots, we'd be at the top of the food chain. We'd be unstoppable."

We all looked between each other, absorbing all this new information. "If their plan is so great, why tell us?" Leo questioned, walking up to him. "Why not wait for them to win and take us out?"

"Because I don't want Lexi in charge." He admitted. "She's got too many secrets. I can't trust her."

"You can't trust a villain? Shocker." I commented. He smirked a little.

"Besides, if you happen to win and take all of them out, then you've taken out my biggest competition. I mean, I could do it myself, but why not let you all do the hard work for me?" He added smugly. "And once they're out of the way, who's to stop me from taking over the throne?"

"I am." Ben answered, staring Saturn down. Saturn smirked.

"We'll see about that." He shot back confidently.

**Emily's POV**

"Thank you." I smiled gratefully at the waiter as he brought over a couple of cups of coffee along with a plate of fries. Once he was gone, I turned back to Darius. "Alright, talk. Explain."

He sighed and took a sip from his drink before beginning. "I never wanted…I wasn't planning….I…" he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Look, I never wanted to hurt you, okay? That was never my plan."

"But you did lie to me." I pointed out, keeping my eyes locked on him as I reached over to grab the sugar container. I poured an unhealthy amount in my drink before replacing it.

"I did." He acknowledged. "I'm sorry."

"I don't want apologies, Darius." I murmured softly. He nodded.

"I know." He sighed. "You want the truth."

I nodded. "I do."

He licked his lips, considering his words carefully before starting to speak once more. "So, about six months ago, my mother moved us down here."

"Your mother. Lexi." I confirmed. He nodded. "Is Sebastian Krane your father?"

"Depends on who you ask. Mom says he is, Sebastian claims that he has no son." He chuckled darkly. "Take that however you want. Anyway, she moved us down here and introduced me to the rest of the team. Marcus, Reese, the others. Said that we were here to right a wrong."

"To right a wrong." I hummed thoughtfully. He nodded.

"The plan was to keep an eye on you guys, that's why Mom arranged for Marcus and I to have class with you guys. See if you were going to be a threat when Reese's plan came together." He explained slowly. "If you hadn't, then we were supposed to continue as normal. You wouldn't have been dragged into all of this."

He sounded almost genuinely sorry for that. "Sorry to disappoint." I commented sarcastically. He cracked a bit of a smile at that. "But since we were a threat, was the plan there?"

His smile faded and he ducked his head. "Take you out." He said, his tone so quiet that I almost didn't catch what he had said. I nodded, not surprised. He straightened up and cleared his throat. "Aftershock was supposed to be the main target, because of his experience and strength. You're all inexperienced, Mom and Reese thought you'd all be easier to manipulate than you are. That's a compliment, by the way." He added, glancing at my face as if to try and gauge my reaction. I didn't meet his gaze. "Look, I didn't want to do any of that, okay? My mother didn't give me a choice."

"We always have a choice, Darius." I snapped. He hesitated, looking away. "And what about me?"

"What about you?" He asked. I blinked hard, feeling the angry tears spike again.

"Me. You and me. Was that all part of the master plan?" I asked, leaning back. He looked at me sharply, surprised. "Was any of it real?"

"Of course it was real." He went to grab my hands, but I pulled them away, placing them in my lap. He stared at me, eyes wide. "Emily, if you don't believe anything else I say tonight, you have to believe that. I wasn't playing you. I do care about you. It was real."

I looked at him for a moment, then pointedly turned my gaze towards my coffee mug. He sounded sincere. He sounded like he was telling the truth. But I wasn't sure if he really was telling the truth, or if that was just what I wanted to believe that he was. "I never wanted to hurt you."

"Then what you to do you want?" I questioned sharply, narrowing my eyes at him with enough intensity to make him freeze. "Well? You say you don't want to hurt me, and you didn't take out Ben and Charlotte when you had the chance, but you're also sitting here, defending your mother, even after everything she's done to you."

"I'm not defending her!" Darius snapped.

"Well, you're sure not agreeing with me. She's a monster, Darius." I growled. He stared me down. I changed tactics. "She hits you, right?"

"Stay out of it, Emily." He growled.

"Charlotte said she hits you." I added.

"It's complicated." He snapped.

"Not really." I mumbled, rolling my eyes.

"Drop it." He growled.

"Then what do you want, Darius? You can't have both." I continued. "What do you want?"

"I don't know!" I could see his shoulders tensing, his eyebrows furrowing. I leaned forward, glaring at him.

"Whose side are you on?" I questioned.

"Why does there have to be any sides?!" He demanded incredulously, tone rising above the volume of the diner. A couple of the patrons turned to look at us, and Darius ducked in embarrassment.

"Because Reese and your mother started a war with my family." I hissed. He gave me a look.

"After your families killed their fathers." He said slowly. I didn't respond, but my face must have given away my surprise, because he drew back a moment later. "Victor Krane, Roddiseus, you didn't know?"

I licked my lips. "If they did, they had a good reason for it." I said, keeping my composure. There's no way Mom and Dad killed, or helped kill, anyone, right? They arrested the criminals they fought. That's what they told me. "And it's no excuse."

"Of course not. I'm just saying, neither side is innocent here." He agreed calmly. He sighed. "I just…why does there have to be sides?"

"Darius…" I sighed, but he continued.

"I'm serious, Emily. Because as far as I can see, no matter what side I choose, it's a lose-lose situation." He told me, leaning back. I started shaking my head, but that just added fuel to the fire. "Let's look at my options, shall we? Option A: Team Davenport." He said with false enthusiasm. "I help you arrest or possibly kill my mother, who is still my mom no matter what she's done, and then I end up…where? On the streets? In another shelter? Your family  _hates_  my family; there's no way I can expect any kind of support there. So, I end up homeless, family-less, and totally screwed."

"Dare-" He didn't give me a chance to speak.

"Or Option B: Team Mom. I help my mom and her friends kill your family and friends and I lose the girl I…" He trailed off and I raised my chin to look him in the eyes, butterflies in my stomach "…the girl I care about. You die, and I still lose." His voice cracked. "Tell me, Emily, what would you do in my position? Would you choose me, or your family?"

I felt my shoulders drop as he looked into my eyes imploringly. When he put it like that…I understood why he was so conflicted. I knew what I'd pick sure, but I could see his argument. I didn't necessarily agree with it; it wasn't as complicated as love or family. But I'd only been thinking of it as good versus evil, and maybe it wasn't as simple as that either. "It's not like there's a third option." I said softly.

"What if there was?" He said softly. I looked up at him, caught off guard by what he'd said. He was still staring at me, brown eyes searching mine for a reaction. "What if there was a third option, where we didn't have to choose between which loved ones we hurt?"

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

He looked at me before starting to rifle through his jacket. I tensed, hand touching the Paragun sitting on the seat of the booth, but he just pulled out two pieces of paper. "What if we left?" He asked, turning back to me. I eyed the slips in his hand in confusion. "I can't fight my family, Emily, but I don't want to fight yours. But I do want to be with you."

"You can't have it both ways. I won't betray my family." I shook my head. He turned the slips over in his hand.

"I'm not asking you to betray them. But this is between our parents, not us. This isn't our fight, Emily. And I'm done fighting for something someone else believes in." He sighed and pushed the slips of paper over to me. I realized that they were paper train tickets. "I'm leaving Centium City, and I want you to come with me."

I stared at him in shock. "Darius…"

"Look, I know I haven't been the greatest…well, anything to you, but I don't want to see you get hurt or worse in our parents' war." He looked at me pleadingly. "Come with me. We can get away from all this. We can go to Boston; we could go to school, see the world. Figure out our own lives instead of following in our parents' footsteps. We wouldn't have to fight."

"I…" I was speechless. What Darius was proposing was crazy, radical, rebellious…and a small part of me was enchanted by the idea.

It was hard to deny that some of what he'd said was true. This was part of a war that started with our parents. Most of the Reese's team had reason to hate our parents, not us; we were just caught in the crossfire. What was worse was that our parents hadn't even prepared us, or been honest with us about any of this; until they'd literally tried to kill us, I'd never even heard of any of them, and according to Darius, they  _still_  hadn't told us the whole truth either. They didn't trust us with that, and yet they still expected us to fight? I knew it had been our idea to be a team, but something about the whole thing just didn't feel right. But at the same time, this was my  _family_. I couldn't just walk out on them, could I?

"Darius…I…." I trailed off, completely unsure of how to respond. He gave me a kind smile.

"Look, you don't have to answer right now." He told me, sliding out of the chair and getting up. "The train leaves at 7AM. Early, I know." He offered me a sheepish grin.

"Yeah…" I trailed off, still wrapping my mind around what he just said. He went to leave, then stopped and turned back to me, his smile having faded into a grim frown.

"There's something else." He told me, his tone hesitant like he didn't want to have to tell me something. "Discordia and Mars, Reese's daughter and nephew? Emily, they're Ava and Aaron."

**xxx**

"I'm sure she's fine, Calla. Maybe she just-" Ben was saying as I walked into the penthouse. All heads turned towards me as I walked in.

"Emily!" Charlotte quickly ran and hugged me, much to my surprise, nearly making me drop the coffees I'd grabbed on my way back.

"Where the hell have you been? You were supposed to be back with coffee over an hour ago?" Noah demanded, even as he gently took the trays of coffee out of my hands.

"Geez, if you needed caffeine that bad, you could have just knocked on Mr. Syd's door - he's a bigger addict than Mom." I commented. Mom gave me a stern look.

"Answer your Davenwatch when I call you." She told me. I frowned, rubbing at it.

"It died. I'm sorry." I apologized. Mom sized and rubbed her forehead.

"You went missing for an hour, Emmy." Leo pointed out, one of the only rational ones in the room. "We were worried."

"I'm sorry." I repeated. I hadn't meant to worry them, but my Davenwatch had really died during my talk with Darius, and then I'd gone back to replace the coffees he'd made me spill. Kira leaned onto the side of the chair she was sitting in.

"Where were you?" She asked curiously. I bit my lip; this conversation was not going to go well.

"I was talking with Darius." I said slowly. As expected, everyone started at those words. Everyone stared at me, while Mom grabbed me by the arms, turning me towards her.

"Are you okay?" She demanded, looking me over carefully with concerned eyes. "I'm going to kill him."

"He didn't hurt me, Mom." I told her. She finished her examination thoroughly, ignoring my words until she was satisfied that I was unhurt.

"Thank God." She murmured, letting me go and taking a step back. "You're lucky."

"Not lucky. Darius isn't with them anymore. He never really was." I told her. She got this skeptical look on her face. "I'm serious. He never wanted to be a part of his mother's team or to hurt us."

"I'm sure he was very convincing, honey." She sighed. I shook my head.

"He was telling the truth. He's not a bad guy." I insisted. She shook her head and stepped away.

"He helped kidnap Charlotte and hurt Ben, and he's helped them with every one of their other schemes. But sure, he can be trusted." She told me. I looked at the others for help, but few of them looked like they believed me either. Leo, Noah, and Naomi certainly didn't. Kameron, Kira, and Seraphina were all looking at each other, trying to gauge each other's reactions before saying anything. The only ones who looked the least bit sympathetic to my pleas were Charlotte and, surprisingly, Ben. "Guys, c'mon, you know him! How can you believe that he's a villain?"

"We didn't think that Lexi or Reese were villains either when we first met them." Leo reminded me, his voice kind. "And Calla and I were the only ones who thought that Marcus was a bad guy either."

"And frankly, I didn't fully believe you until you showed me proof." Mom added, glancing at Leo.

"Darius is different." I argued. Naomi gave me a look.

"Em, I can say that about every jerk I've ever dated." She pointed out. "They're always different until they're not."

I opened my mouth to argue with her, but Ben stopped me before I could. "Guys, let's all take a beat. No need for everyone to get upset." He cautioned before turning to me. Unlike Mom, Leo, and Naomi, he had a more understanding looking on his face. "Emily, aside from telling you that he didn't want to hurt anyone, did he say anything else that might prove that he's on our side?"

"He's not…He…" How was I supposed to explain that he wasn't a bad guy, but that he didn't want to take sides either. "Actually…he told me Discordia and Mars' identities."

"Really?" Kameron raised his eyebrows at that. I nodded stiffly. "Who?"

"Ava and Aaron Merullo." I didn't acknowledge the looks on their faces. I was still trying to wrap my head around what Darius' had told me, but honestly, I felt like it should have surprised me more. But these past couple of months…Ava had always had a cold personality, and it never used to bother me, but lately, it had been worse. She'd been more involved in our lives since Dad and the others had left for Venusia, Aaron too, and it did explain a couple of the minor things I'd overlooked.

"She was the one who suggested that we crash the camping trip." Kameron realized as we all exchanged looks. Charlotte looked at me sharply.

"She pushed us to get together with Darius and Marcus." She remembered. A look of horror came over her face. "We told her that the Elite Force were gone. That's how they found out they'd left."

Calla, Leo, Ben, and Naomi exchanged looks. Naomi was about to say something, but Calla cut her off. "They could have found out other ways. Don't blame yourselves on this." She turned to Leo. "That does check out with what we know. Mars and Discordia were the last missing pieces aside from Saturn."

"He said they were Reese's daughter and nephew." I added. Mom considered it.

"Yeah, it'd hardly shock me if one of the other shapeshifters had an illegitimate kid somewhere along the way, or got someone knocked up during a conjugal visit." She muttered.

"Gross." Kira commented, wrinkling her nose in disgust. Noah agreed.

"I'm with her on that." He added. Mom sighed.

"Just because he told you the truth about one thing does not make him a good guy." She said, completely dismissing the idea that Darius wasn't the monster she'd decided he was. I let out an irritated breath through my nose. "Emily-"

"It's not the only truth he told me." I said coldly, cutting her off. "Or are you telling me that the Elite Force didn't kill Victor Krane or Roddiseus' deaths?"

Mom and Leo both stopped at that, looking at me in surprise. The others, even Naomi, seemed even more surprised by the accusation.

"What-what is she talking about?" Noah asked, frowning. Mom and Leo exchanged looks.

"Sometimes criminals don't give us a choice in how we stop them. We try to arrest them if we can, but stopping them from hurting anyone else is our top priority." Leo explained. I raised my chin.

"So it's true. You killed them." I realized. They didn't answer right away. "You did."

"I'm sure Darius made it seem much worse than it was. Krane was had tried to kill nearly sixty people if your father hadn't fired back at him." Calla sighed.

"Wait, Dad was the one who killed Krane?" Darius hadn't told me that bit. "What about Roddiseus?"

"He was an accident." Leo said quickly.

"An accident?" Sera repeated.

"She'd only had her powers for a year, she didn't know her full strength." Mom sighed.

"She?" Kira repeated. She looked at Kameron. "You mean Mom?"

"No way. Mom's a doctor – she may fight on missions, but she'd never kill." Kameron insisted. Mom sighed.

"Missions go wrong sometimes, guys. It was never planned, and we'd all certainly choose to bring our guys in alive rather than dead, any day." Mom told us, looking around at us. "We'd always intended to take Krane and Roddiseus in alive."

"So does that mean we might have to kill Lexi and her team?" Noah looked up at my mom with a solemn expression on his face, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. He shook his head. "We didn't sign up for that."

"No one here is expecting you to kill." Leo was quick to assure us. Mom nodded in agreement.

"The only thing we're expecting you to do is come home safe at the end of the day." She told us. She looked at me. "And part of that means not taking stupid risks and trusting someone who's already betrayed us."

"But Mom-" I started to protest, but she raised her hand, stopping me.

"I don't want to hear it, Emily. Darius is bad news. He is not your friend and we can not trust him." She snapped. I glared at her angrily. "End of discussion."

Without giving me another chance to argue, she turned back to the others. "Now that we're all here, we can move on. Lexi's plan, not Reese's as we originally thought, is to put her team at the top of the villain hierarchy by taking over the city. It's why they've been hitting tech companies – they want the tech for themselves and whoever gave them the technology to revive Marcus and Catastrophe."

"Do we know who everyone is now?" Seraphina frowned. "Because if Aaron and Ava are Mars and Discordia, and Darius and Matt were Neptune and Vulcan, who does that leave?"

"Reese and Lexi were Victoria and Venus, the other two women, with Catastrophe being Jan…that just leaves Jupiter, who we still know nothing about." Ben continued. Kameron sighed, clearly still thinking about what he'd learned about his mom.

"Well, he might just be a Calderan criminal. I mean, Experion couldn't have been the only one?" He suggested, tone quiet. Naomi glanced at Ben.

"We're sure he's not actually Experion, right?" She questioned.

"Experion's been occupying a cell in UPSEI for the past three years. There were rumors that he'd been training an apprentice," he admitted, "but that was years ago. It could be the same guy, but we never had proof that he existed, so we didn't look too much into it."

"Let's assume that it is until we learned otherwise." Leo suggested. "They're plan is to take over the city."

"What's their attack strategy?" Noah questioned. Ben shook his head.

"Saturn wasn't sure, just that their targets would be public locations, and that they'd want to keep the tech companies intact. And that they'll attack soon." He confirmed. Naomi nodded.

"It could be hours, could be days. We have to be ready." She told us. I sighed.

"Was that all?" I questioned. Mom looked at me.

"Emily…" she began, but I ignored her, angry.

"Was that it? It's been a long day; I want to go to bed." I said, address Ben instead. He glanced at Naomi, who nodded.

"Go get some rest." He allowed. I nodded and almost ran up the stairs, ignoring my mother as I did. My mind was whirling, her words echoing in my ears and the train ticket Darius had given me weighing heavily in my pocket.

**Naomi's POV**

"Good morning." Ben greeted me as I walked down the stairs. It was still fairly early - just after 6:30 – so I was surprised to see Ben down in the kitchen, dressed and cooking pancakes at the stove top. I frowned, realizing that he was wearing the same clothes he was wearing yesterday. "Wait, you didn't stay here last night, did you?"

"I crashed on the couch." He replied, shrugging. I gave him a look. "Lexi's team could attack at any time. We should all be sticking together." He reminded me. "My apartment's all the way across town."

"Yeah, but it might not be days until they attack. If you're tired or achy from sleeping on a couch, you're not going to be at your best." I pointed out. He shrugged. I sat down at the counter, looking up at him. It had been a crazy couple of weeks, and we really hadn't had a chance to talk about anything.

"Hey listen," "Naomi-" We both started at the same time before stopping abruptly.

"You go first." He encouraged. I shook my head.

"No, you. Mine's not...it can wait." I assured him. He paused for a moment before nodding.

"Calla's told you about the next mission, right?" He murmured, looking past me at the stairs to see if anyone was coming down. Most of the kids were still asleep when I'd come down - Kira had been gone when I'd gotten up, likely already out on her morning jog, but I could easily see the boys still snoring away in their room through their open door. Sera and Emily's door was closed, and I briefly considered going in to check on how Emily was doing (fights with Calla were rare, but both of them would take them pretty hard when they did happen), but had figured it would be better to wait until she'd woken up on her own and had her morning coffee. "The one to Venusia?"

"Yeah. It's more important than ever now." We had no idea what had been done to Chase, Bree, Jaden, or any of the others. I knew what Calla's fear was, but I wasn't about to let that be the only possibility in my mind. The only thing we knew for sure was that they disappeared on their way to Venusia. "Do we think the Venusians are Lexi's mysterious benefactor?"

"I think we'd be idiots not to consider it." He replied. I nodded thoughtfully, gratefully accepting the mug of coffee he handed to me. He sighed. "I wanted you to know: I'm going to be the one leading it."

"And I'm coming with you." I agreed. He looked at me sharply.

"No, you're not." He responded, looking at me like I was crazy. "Naomi, no."

"Ben, yes. I'm coming with you." I argued. He shook his head. "It's my decision, Ben."

"You'll miss the entire second half of your winter semester." He pointed out, staring at me. "And you won't be back in time for the fall. You were supposed to graduate next year, Naomi."

"So, I'll take another year to graduate, big deal. I can work it out with the school, I can afford it." I reasoned, narrowing my eyes at him. "I'm coming with you, Ben. I'm serious."

"Look, Naomi," he leaned on the counter, "if you're worried about Chase, Bree, Jaden, and the others, I get it. But I'm not going to let anything happen to them. That's why I wanted to talk to you about me going on the mission; I wanted you to know that I'm going to go and I'm going to bring them back home, no matter what."

"The 'no matter what' is what worries me, Ben." I insisted. I shook my head. "Yes, I'm worried about them. Of course, I'm worried about them. But I'm also worried about you, dummy."

"I'll be fine, Naomi." He sighed, tone gentle. I gave him a look. "I took down Saturn, right? I can handle this."

"And if you can't?" I objected. "It's not that I doubt your abilities, but ANYTHING can happen out there. And if you went, alone, without me, and something happened, I would never...I would..." I sighed, breaking off. I looked away, biting my lip. "Look, you're not going without me and that's that."

"Naomi..." he broke off as well, but for different reasons. He cleared his throat. "Good morning, Sera."

I looked up to see the Calderan-Human hybrid walking down the stairs in her pyjamas, a frown on her face. "We were just talking about..." I trailed off, hoping she hadn't heard too much. Thankfully, she didn't seem too concerned about that.

"Have you guys seen Emily?" She asked instead, walking into the kitchen. "She wasn't in bed, and her backpack and shoes are gone."

I frowned and glanced at Ben. "Maybe she went on a jog with Kira?" I suggested. It didn't seem likely, but I wasn't sure where else she could be? And Kira had taken her shoes and bag with her as well.

Sera made a face. "Has Emily ever gone on a jog before?" She questioned skeptically. "Especially this early in the morning?"

"No." I admitted uneasily. Ben chuckled.

"But if anyone could convince her, it'd be Kira." He reminded us. He shrugged. "Besides, I know for a fact that there's a Starbucks on Kira's jogging route. She probably coaxed her out of bed with that and convinced her to come out with her. You know her; she probably thought the fresh air would do Emily some good."

"Probably." Sera didn't sound too sure. But she quickly shrugged it off and walked past Ben.

"Hey, I'm making pancakes." He mentioned, thinking that she was going to get some cereal. Instead, she pulled a container of hot chocolate powder and a small bag of marshmallows out of the bottom cupboard, placed it on the counter, then started routing through the fridge.

"It's Noah's birthday today." She reminded us before stepping away from the fridge, a can of whip cream in her hand. "And I know celebrating with a party isn't the best idea right now with everything going on, but I think we should celebrate a little." She turned and smiled at us. "My mom always makes me a hot chocolate with whip cream and marshmallows on it for my birthday."

"You didn't make one for Emily on her birthday." I pointed out as Ben pulled the electric kettle off the top shelf for her.

"Well...we weren't really friends back then." She shrugged a little. She smiled as Helix walked up to us. "Hey Helix. Emily feed you yet this morning?"

He whimpered before going on his hind legs, pawing at Ben with a pleading look on his face. "You can have a piece of bacon when they're done being cooked." The older boy relented. I smiled at him. "But you have to be patient, alright, buddy?"

"Hey guys." The front door swung open and Kira walked in, bag tossed over her shoulder. "Ooh, are those pancakes?"

"Uh, yeah." Ben frowned when she closed the door behind her. "Is Emily with you?"

Kira paused, frowning. "No? Why, did she want to go jogging with me? I figured she'd want to sleep in like usual."

Ben glanced at me. "Okay, now I'm concerned."

"MISS?" I called as Calla walked down the stairs. She frowned, immediately noticing the looks on our faces. "Is Emily in Mission Command?"

" _No. She left at approximately 5:42 through the tunnels."_  The AI responded. Calla frowned.

"Emily left at quarter to six in the morning?" She questioned, concerned. "Did she say where she was going?"

 _"She did not."_  The AI replied.

"Thank you, MISS." Her expression confused and worried, Calla raised her Davenwatch to eye level. She hit a couple of buttons on it, ringing Emily. After a moment, she scowled.

"Her Davenwatch is off." She muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I am definitely regretting not being one of those parents who microchip their kids right about now."

"What's going on?" Kameron asked, walking down the stairs next. Before we could respond, MISS' alarm started to blare.

 _"Multiple explosions downtown, all surrounding the main Explority, Blizzard Corp., and Davenport Industries buildings."_  MISS announced. Calla looked around at us, and seemed to make a decision.

"MISS and I will have to track Emily down ourselves. The rest of you, suit up." She ordered. "It seems Lexi's plan has finally started to unfold."


	17. Stormfall

**Ben's POV**

"What's going on?" Leo demanded as he, Katherine, and Charlotte all came running to Mission Command, the two adults already in their mission uniforms while Charlotte struggled to pull hers on as she ran, her jacket still open to reveal a reindeer-themed pyjama shirt on underneath. Clearly, she'd still be in bed when MISS had sent the mission alert to their phones.

"Bombings downtown." Naomi explained, zipping up her own uniform's jacket as she returned from the change room, Seraphina and Kira right behind her. Seraphina looked at Noah and I suspiciously.

"How do guys get dressed so quickly?" She questioned. Noah and I exchanged looks, then shrugged.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm here." Kameron apologized quickly, running in from our change room, still buckling his belt. "Sorry."

"You spoke too soon." Kira mentioned to Sera with a smirk. Kameron shot her a cold look, much to his sister's amusement.

"Bombin's, you say?" Katherine asked Calla pointedly, her tone raised to force the twins to focus on the scenario at hand. Both of them sobered up quickly, expressions turning solemn. Calla broke her gaze away from the entrance to Mission Command, clearly having been waiting for the final member of our team to arrive.

"Uh, yeah. I mean, yes." She shook herself and gestured at the holoscreen projecting from the cyber computer in the center of the room. It showed news reports of several parts of the city, where bombs had gone off about three minutes ago. "Bombs have gone off on multiple streets in the city, all of which are surrounding either Explority, Blizzard Corp., or Davenport Industries. So far no casualties have been reported."

"That's lucky." Noah commented, tone skeptical.

"That, or hurting the public wasn't the point of the plan. I think this is meant to be a diversion for the police and us." Calla replied. She raised her hand across the hover screen, switching our view of the situation from security footage to a map of the city with little blips on the screen, showing circles of orange blips surrounding the three tech buildings, all of which were glowing blue. "The explosions are far enough from the buildings that they won't damage the buildings and would be enough to keep the police on the scene instead of sending them into the buildings. If they think they're isolated from the recent tech company attacks – and given the fact that I've kept the Davenport Industries ones out of the media as much as possible, it's likely they only know about the Blizzard Corp one from back in September – they'll be more focused on the attack sites themselves than 'possible' targets."

"But Lexi has to know that we know they're targeting tech companies." Sera pointed out. "She can't expect this to work on us, right? Obviously, we know they're going after the tech companies."

"I don't think they're going after all of them." Calla said patiently, glancing at the screen with a deep frown on her face. I noticed Charlotte looking around, confusion on her face as her gaze swept around the room. "Splitting up their team right now, with Saturn in custody and Darius possibly missing as well, would be foolish. They don't want to risk us getting a hold of any more of them; they'll stick together."

"So, they're only goin' after one of the companies." Katherine concluded. Calla nodded. "Which one?"

"It's impossible to be sure, but I'm leaning towards Explority. It's the only they haven't hit yet, that we're aware of. And if they don't hit it, I'm going to want to have a talk with Mr. Melnick about why his company has been ignored by our friends."

"Could he be their benefactor?" Ben questioned. Calla shook her head.

"Let's see if they target Explority or not first. For now, we're going to work under that assumption." She looked back at us. "Director DeCook's resources are mostly helping deal with the bombings or checking public sectors for more explosives in case we're wrong. However, he has given us two teams. AJ and Spin are already heading to Davenport Industries to search the building with their team; Katherine, a team will meet you at Blizzard Corp. I assume you can handle it?"

"Don't insult me." The bionic woman gave Calla a look. Calla smiled in response before turning to Leo and Naomi.

"I want you guys to take Explority yourselves. You're most likely to encounter Lexi's team, but no one else has the experience you guys have with them." She told us.

"We can handle it." Kameron grinned confidently. Naomi glanced at me, and I gave her a reassuring smile. She turned back to Calla.

"Kameron's right; you can rely on us." She assured her.

"Where's Emily?" Charlotte spoke up, drawing attention to the elephant we'd briefly forgotten was in the room. Calla sighed and glanced back at her holoscreen.

"She went out early this morning and hasn't been seen since." She sighed. Charlotte looked surprised, which was even more concerning; Emily had gone out without even mentioning anything to Charlotte. If we were worried about her before, we were especially worried now. "And since she managed to deactivate the tracker I put in her Davenwatch, I'm still trying to locate her."

"You put a tracker in her Davenwatch?" Naomi asked. Calla nodded.

"And the next one is going in her neck." She added, sounding annoyed. "She's probably fine, probably just went out for coffee and wanted to get a break from everyone. You guys go on ahead; I'll send her your way once I find her and kick her butt for worrying us."

"Aye-aye, Captain Calla." Kira gave her a mock salute, managing to elicit a smile from the concerned mother.

"Go." She told us before turning back to computer. "I'll be on the comms." She hesitated before turning back one last time to look at us. "Be  _careful_."

"Here." Leo grabbed a box from under the cyber computer and opened it to reveal the special, 'no touching except for emergencies' Davenwatches. "We can geoleap there faster than we can drive."

"Be careful." Katherine told him and Charlotte, cupping each of their faces gently. "I love you both."

"Love you too, Mama." Charlotte gave her mom a confident smile. "We'll be fine."

"I love you." Leo told her, kissing Katherine on the cheek. The blonde gave him one last smile before Geoleaping away. Naomi looked at Leo, who gave her a nod, before she turned to face all of us.

"Alright guys," she said as we wall strapped on our Davenwatches. "I know we've been struggling against these guys for the past few months, and I know we're a man down, but today is our chance to stop Lexi and the others before they hurt anyone else. This is our chance to be heroes. This is our chance to finally do what our parents couldn't; stop Lexi, Marcus, Reese, and Catastrophe." Leo made an annoyed face when she mentioned how he hadn't beat Marcus, but she continued, ignoring him. "This is our chance to prove that we are every bit the Elite Force Bree, Calla, Chase, Dani, Kaz, Jaden, Oliver, and Skylar were. They may not be here to see it, but let's do them proud, alright?"

"Hell yeah." I agreed immediately, earning a smile from Naomi. The others all nodded in agreement. "Alright, let's save the city."

**Emily's POV**

I clutched by bag tightly over my shoulder, looking around the platform for Darius. For a heart-stopping moment, I thought I'd been duped, that he wasn't coming, but then I finally caught sight of him, sitting on a bench as he waited for the train to come in.

"Darius." I called softly, walking over to him. He looked up, startled for a moment, but then his face brightened, and he beamed at me, delight all over his face.

"Emily!" He leapt to his feet. He was smiling at me, grinning wide, eyes glowing as he pulled me into a hug. "I…I didn't think you were going to come."

"I…" I hesitated, not quite hugging him back, and he pulled away frowning.

"What's wrong? You're here." He smiled at me as if to reassure me that that was the only important thing, before beginning to ramble, oblivious to the look on my face. "The train should be here in a few minutes – we can board right away if you want, or maybe grab some coffee first – they have a Starbucks here. We can talk about the plan on the train, or wait until the first stop, or-" And finally, I couldn't stand it anymore.

"I'm not coming with you."

He stopped short, mouth still open, mid-sentence and he stared at me, not comprehending what I'd just said. "You-what?"

"I'm not coming with you." I repeated calmly, my heart stuttering painfully even worse the second time I said it. He looked at me, disbelief on his face.

"But, but you're here." He said dumbly. I pressed my lips together tightly, feeling a watery weight start to build in the inner corners of my eyes.

"I wanted…needed to say goodbye. I needed to say goodbye." I told him, shaking my head. I'd thought this would be easier. I thought that since I would get to say goodbye this time, it wouldn't hurt like this. It shouldn't hurt like this.

"You're not coming with me." He murmured slowly to himself, stepping backwards away from me. I bit my lip, not wanting to cry at the look of hurt on his face. "You don't want to come."

"No, I do. I do want to. That's all I want." I could picture it now, the two of us living together in Cambridge. A tiny apartment, just the two of us and maybe Helix. It would be perfect. But it was missing something really important. "But I can't."

"Why not?" He questioned, staring at me. I shook my head. I didn't think he'd understand. "Why not, Emily?"

"Because I have to fight for what I believe in, Darius. And I believe in my family." I explained. His brow furrowed in confusion.

"After everything you know they've done?" He questioned.

"Yes." I nodded solemnly. He frowned, still not understanding. "Belief isn't about what you know, Darius, it's about what you feel. It's about what you love. And whatever they've done, I still love them."

He looked me over for a long moment, processing. "You're really not coming, are you?" He murmured, disappointed. I nodded even though I could feel it breaking my heart.

"I'm sorry." I apologized. He nodded shakily.

"Me too." He agreed sullenly. We stood there for a moment, tense silence filling the air. Finally, he spoke. "What's with the bag?"

"Oh." I dropped it at his feet, and offered him a pale smile. "You didn't look like you had much on you, and as warm as that sweater looks – not that I would know, since you've never let me wear it…" Unable to help himself, he chuckled a little at that.

"I still don't get the whole thing girls have about stealing their boyfriend's sweaters." He mumbled half-heartedly. I smiled a little.

"Anyway, I figured you might need some supplies." I explained, kneeling down to open the top to show him what was inside. "Water, snacks, a little bit of money, a couple of shirts I stole from Noah. Figured it might help."

Darius knelt down next to me. "Won't he notice?" He asked, gently reaching into the bag to look for himself.

"I gave him bionics; he can give me a couple of stupid shirts." I replied. He smiled a little, then it faded as he pulled out an envelope from the front of the bag. Before I could stop him, he opened it and removed the photograph. Kira had taken it of the two of us and Helix just a couple of days after we'd started dating, claiming it was her Aunt Lily would call a 'total Kodak moment'. "I didn't want you to forget me." I mumbled sheepishly as I ducked my head, slightly embarrassed and kinda regretting the decision to include it.

Darius' fingers found my chin and raised my face to meet his gaze. There were tears in his eyes, but he smiled kindly at me. "You are unforgettable, Emily Davenport."

And then I leaned in to kiss him, for what I knew was going to be the last time. I pushed my lips against his, taking in the texture, the taste, the feel of his against mine. It seemed to last a lifetime, but at the same time, it ended all too quickly.

"Maybe one day…I don't know." He sighed. "Maybe one day when all of this is over, we'll meet up in a coffee shop or library somewhere, get another chance."

I blinked back the tears in my eyes. "Maybe."

I sighed and started to get up, but just as I did that, the earth shook with the force of an explosion, a loud crashing sound coming from the North. Darius grabbed my arms, steadying me as the tremors faded. We both looked towards the source of the sound and saw smoking rising steadily into the air. The sound of distant sirens filled the air.

"I have to go." I snapped my head towards him, and he nodded solemnly.

"I know." He agreed, almost reluctantly. I glanced back at the smoke, then back at him.

"I can't convince you to stay?" I tried one last time. He shook his head.

"And I can't convince you to go." He wasn't asking, but I shook my head. I slowly started to back away from him and started to head towards the exit. I stopped at the entrance to the platform, just as the train started to come in. Darius lifted my bag over his shoulder with a heavy sigh.

"Darius!" I called to him before he could board. He looked back at me, and I could see my heartbreak mirrored on his face. "I love you."

His eyes widened slightly in surprise, not expecting me to say that. I didn't wait for him to respond though – I wasn't sure my heart could take it – and instead took off running towards the source of the explosion.

**Ben's POV**

As it turns out, Calla was right about Explority being Lexi's target.

We caught them just as they were exiting the building, their entire team (minus Saturn and Darius) all armed and ready for a fight. They weren't at all surprised when they met us outside the building's lobby. The sound of sirens was loud in the air, the first responders heading to the explosions too far for us to help but close enough for us to be well aware of.

"Well, well, well…I see you're all still around." Marcus sneered. He hadn't even bothered to wear his uniform or vizor mask this time around – I guess anonymity wasn't a concern for him anymore. "Wait, where's Emily?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Charlotte sneered aggressively at him. Leo motioned for her to stay calm, but he looked as angry as she did.

"Keep an eye out for her. Girl genius could be a problem." Marcus shot to his teammates. I watched as Naomi slowly raised her weapon, aiming it directly at Lexi without shooting.

"Give up now, and you'll face less jail time." She warned, projecting her voice loudly. "We know who all of you are – you might as well get rid of the masks – and we know what your plan is. It will not work. Give up now."

"And if we don't?" Reese sneered. Naomi didn't answered, but raised her chin defiantly, challenging her to see what would happen.

"You're too late anyway." Lexi snapped. "The bombs are already in place."

"Bombs?" Kameron echoed. Jupiter smirked.

"You didn't think that was it?" He questioned, gesturing at the chaotic streets. "Nah. We already got everything we need from Explority – better to destroy it and everything else around it than leave it standing."

"Dude!" Discordia snapped at him. He shook his head.

"Relax, kid. They're not going to run or anything – they won't leave the civies we left in the building to die." He reminded her. He smiled at us cruelly. "You only have 10 minutes to stop them, kiddies."

I sighed; enough was enough. "Get them, don't let them get away."

"Charlotte, you're in charge of dealing with those bombs." Naomi added, following my line of thinking. Lexi and her friends would try to stop us regardless, but if we fought them outright, maybe we could distract them enough for Charlotte so that she could disable them, save those people inside.

"Yeah…not going to happen." Marcus raised his hand, revealing a small trigger device. Before any of us could move, he hit the button, and smoke starting shooting heavily from the bottom of the device, surrounding us in seconds.

"Naomi!" I called, unable to see through the thick, impenetrable smoke. It must have been that kind of fake smoke that you could use for presentations – it didn't burn my throat or eyes the way real smoke would – but it was still impossible to see through.

"Ben!" Suddenly, a hand grabbed my arm. I turned to see Naomi holding onto my arm for fear of getting lost in the smoke again. "Where'd they go?"

"I don't know!" I called back, just as a ball of ice shot past us, missing us entirely. I looked at Naomi and adjusted her grip so that she was holding my hand instead of my forearm. "But I think Sera knows."

Stumbling our way through the smoke – it just wouldn't stop coming – we walked in the direction of the ice ball's source. Sure enough, we found Sera, and she was facing off against both Catastrophe and Jupiter. Her gaze darted between the two of them, clearly unsure of who to attack first, while the two villains closed in on her.

"Two against one? Not exactly fair odds." Naomi called, holding her weapon out again. Sera's face flushed with relief at the sight of us. Catastrophe and Jupiter just exchanged looks before the red-faced villain turned to face us.

"Whatever. The Calderan wasn't going to be much of a challenge for me anyway." Catastrophe commented.

"Lucky for us." I commented, stepping forward slightly so his attention was more on me than Naomi. I wasn't sure if I was still immune to the affects of his disintegration touch, but I had to be more durable to it than Naomi. Naomi, on the other hand, reached for her comms.

"Everyone, try to get inside the building to disable the bomb. Fight if you have to, but that's our priority." She announced. Catastrophe sneered.

"Good luck with that." He snapped before lunging at us.

**Kameron's POV**

" _Everyone, try to get inside the building to disable the bomb. Fight if you have to, but that's our priority."_  Naomi ordered over the comms. I frowned, concerned.

"Um, I don't know how to do that." Bomb disabling had never been a part of our training with Calla, and if it was something the NLH was supposed to prepare us for, that hadn't come up quite yet. I looked over at Kira to see if she had any idea, but she shook her head helplessly.

As soon as the smoke bombs had gone off, I'd flown up into the air to try and see if I could see through the smoke from there. It was hopeless though; the smoke was just too thick. However, I did manage to catch sight of my sister, walking close to the building where the smoke was easier to see through. She'd been a little surprised when I'd dropped right down next to her, but had continued on, leading us towards the building.

" _I can walk you through it if you get there first."_  Another voice assured us, surprising us all.

" _Emily?"_  Calla's voice broke through, coming in loud and clear on the comms.

" _Yeah Mom. Sorry I'm late guys."_  The technokinetic apologized.  _"But I'm here now."_

"Glad to have you back, Em." Kira grinned.

"Not that she'll do you any good." Kira and I both looked up as two masked figures stepped out of the smoke.

"Hello,  _Ava, Aaron_." I growled in greeting to them.

"You might as well ditch the masks; we know who you are." Kira added just as icily. Ava sighed before pulling hers off, dropping the vizor onto the ground.

"Whatever. I never liked the masks anyway." She rolled her eyes. Aaron shrugged.

"I'm keeping mine on." He mentioned before turning his gaze on us. "It's not like it'll stop us from kicking your asses."

"Language, Aaron. Geez, who raised you?" Kira mocked, clearly looking for any insult she could find.

"I got bounced around foster homes, actually. My dad would have raised me, but he died in prison, where  _your_  parents put him." Aaron snapped. Kira stopped, caught off guard by the response, her smile fading a little.

"That's no excuse for taking it on the city." I told him. Ava rolled her eyes. "I'm serious."

"I know, and that's what makes you so boring. We're not taking it out on the city, we're taking  _over_  the city. Foster kids to kings and queens, all thanks to my mother."

"Not if we can help it." Kira snapped. Ava smiled.

"That's the thing: you can't." She told us before reaching for Aaron's hand. The moment they touched, their bodies began to blur and change, their skin turning dark grey and breaking apart. In a matter of seconds, they went from two human beings into a single swarm of buzzing insects, floating above our heads menacingly.

"That might be a problem." I mumbled, half to my sister and half to myself.

**Charlotte's POV**

"This way." Papa whispered to me, pulling me along by the arm. I could just barely see him through the dark smoke - they must have used some kind of hydrocarbon to make it so dark - but I followed him anyway, trusting that he would get us out of the thick of it.

Unfortunately, that wasn't what happened.

"Ah!" I leapt back in surprise as a green laser cut through the smoke, nearly slicing off my arm and Papa's hand where he'd been holding me.

"Where do you think you're going?" Marcus stepped out of the smoke, a cocky grin on his face. Papa instinctively stepped partially in front of me, placing himself between me and his old adversary.

"Marcus." He growled in greeting, clenching his fists. He looked angrier than I'd ever seen him, angrier than I'd ever seen anybody (except for Ms. Perry in gym class, but she was always angry).

"Leo." Marcus smiled warmly at him. "I'm sorry we really didn't get a chance to chat last time we saw each other, but you know how difficult that is when you're shooting a rifle."

"Didn't feel like taking the coward's way out this time?" Papa questioned sarcastically. Marcus chuckled.

"Oh please, as if I would actually kill you like that. No, I wouldn't be that impersonal." His words sent chills down my back. "But I'll do you a favor and let you choose: do I kill little Charlotte and make you watch? Or do I kill you first and then her?"

"Charlie, go deal with the bomb. I'll handle him." Papa instructed. I shook my head, standing my ground.

"No, I'm staying." I insisted. He sent me a look, and I returned it with a smile. Marcus had already done enough to me, to my family. I wasn't going to just run away now.

"Aw, how sweet." Marcus rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine. We'll just see which one goes first."

**Emily's POV**

I practically jumped out of my skin when I accidentally backed up into someone inside the smoke. I spun around, raising my plasma gun to shoot whoever it was, only to find myself face to face with my cousin. His fists dropped when he recognized me, relief washing over his face.

"Noah." I sighed, lowering my weapon. "Thought you were one of them."

"Where the hell have yoi been?" He demanded, staring at me. I opened my mouth to respond, but stopped when I saw Lexi step out of the smoke behind Noah. She cleared her throat, getting his attention.

"I'd like to know that as well." She commented, raising her chin.

"Of course you would." I retorted, narrowing my eyes at her.

"It doesn't matter in the end." I spun around as Reese appeared behind me. I stepped back so that I was back to back with Noah, covering each other's vulnerable sides.

"Let's just end this now." Noah sighed, sounding annoyed. "What was your plan anyway, just blow up the building? How does that get you the technology you need?"

"It doesn't. But it does get you right in the crossfire." Reese replied, smirking cockily.

"But don't worry; your deaths will be quicker than your parents' were." Whatever cocky comeback I'd been coming up with died on my tongue. I turned around to stare at Lexi, eyes wide.

"They're still alive." I frowned. They weren't dead. She couldn't even touch them from Earth. "Just because they're not in the city-"

"Right, because their trip to Venusia kept them safe from us, is that right?" Lexi smirked, eyeing Reese over my shoulder.

"And of course, you've heard from them since they left, right? Communications, video calls?" Reese teased. Noah sped forward, shoving Lexi back and grabbing her by the front of her shirt.

"You're lying." He growled. She smirked.

"Am I?" She didn't wait for Noah's response, instead hitting his hands hard enough to loosen his grip and lunging at him at full speed. I turned to shoot at her, to help, but a sudden, painful blow in my shoulder knocked me to the ground. I looked up to see Reese standing above me, a purple plasma ball in her hand.

**Ben's POV**

To our surprise, Catastrophe and Jupiter actually seemed to be a decent team. Well, rather, they didn't get in each other's way trying to take out all three of us themselves, as I'd kinda hoped they would. Instead, they were careful to stay out of each other's way, and to try and separate us. As it was, they'd managed to make sure that both of them stood between Naomi and I and Sera, preventing us from lending the cryokinetic a hand in her fight against Jupiter.

I ducked as Catastrophe aimed his fist at my head, narrowly avoiding being punched in the face before trying to land a good kick to his stomach area. The blow hit but seemed to do absolutely nothing. He didn't even flinch; his only reaction was knocking me down to the ground as if I was a flea.

I huffed in annoyance before rolling away from him before he could hit me again. I didn't like being at a disadvantage to anyone, especially criminals. But he was as strong as I used to be, just as invulnerable as I had been, and was even at least half a foot taller than me. And at 6'1 myself, that wasn't something I was used to (though I now totally understood why Charlotte and Emily didn't like sparring with me in training, being the two shortest on the team).

I only had two things going for me, the second being that Calla had upgraded our suits to be impervious to Catastrophe's disintegration abilities. As for the first thing...

"Catastrophe!" Naomi shouted, drawing his attention away from me in time for her to shoot him in the chest with her blaster. The plasma blast seemed to actually do some damage...well, rather, he stumbled back in response to the blast, though it didn't do as much damage as I would have liked. "The next one goes through your head."

"I'd like to see that." Catastrophe scoffed, amused by the idea of Naomi trying to actually kill him. Unfortunately, he was right; she would hurt him, badly too, but she wouldn't shoot him where she knew he couldn't survive.

I pushed myself to my feet, shaking my head. "This isn't working." I muttered to Naomi. She didn't respond, but I saw her eyes flick to me briefly at my words.

"You ready to give up yet?" Catastrophe called. "I'm rather bored."

"Not even close, Voldemort." I snapped before lunging at him again, this time using my strength to push myself off the ground. I leapt at him and managed to knock him to the ground using my weight. He tried to push me off of him, but I punched him in the head before he could, managing to daze him for a moment.

Unfortunately, that moment didn't last long enough, because before I could hit him again, his leg shot up, his knee slamming into my crotch.

"Oh!" I nearly keeled over at the pain, and Catastrophe took advantage of that pretty quickly. He pushed me off of him with his feet, then kicked me again in the stomach before pushing to his feet. I groaned and rolled onto my stomach, trying to regain my footing.

"Your turn." Catastrophe said and I looked up in concern, watching as he turned on Naomi. She wasn't fazed though, and immediately turned her weapon on him.

"Try it, Voldy." She commented, smirking a little at her reference to my nickname for him. I pushed myself onto my knees, and glanced over at the other side of the fight, where Sera was holding her own against Jupiter. Jupiter was stronger, and clearly more experienced in fighting, but Sera's cryokinesis was something that no other Calderan had, and she knew how to use that to her advantage. I watched as she shot an icy blast at her opponent's feet, either hoping to either freeze him to the spot or knock him off balance. Either way, it certainly threw him off his rhythm.

Satisfied that Seraphina could manage a little longer without us, I took a deep breath, then pushed myself back to my feet. "Catastrophe!" I called just as he was knocked back a step by Naomi's blaster. I whistled for extra effect, getting an annoyed look in response. I smirked - his strength and invulnerability may give him an advantage over us, but this back and forth would tire him out easier. Hopefully, enough for us to take him down.

**Kameron's POV**

"C'mon!" I growled in frustration, watching as Ava or Aaron, whichever swarm it was that I was fighting, opened up to allow my lightning bolt to through without harming them, my attack essentially useless. "Would it kill you to stay still for just one minute?"

"Right?" Kira murmured breathlessly, her swarm doing the same as she shot a fire ball at it. "Cowards!"

One of the swarms stopped midair, possibly offended by what Kira had called them, and turned to charge at us, moving faster than I'd thought them capable. "Duck!" Kira grabbed my shoulder, throwing the both of us to the ground in time to avoid the swarm. I quickly pushed myself up on my elbows and shot a blast of electricity at the retreating swarm, finally succeeding in landing a blow. I electrocuted the swarm, causing it to drop to the ground.

"Ha!" Kira exclaimed, rolling onto her back and shooting a ball of fire straight into the air. The second swarm had been flying in to either help their cousin or take us out while we were distracted, but Kira had managed to knock them off course, sending them reeling back to avoid being burnt.

"I hate electrokinetics." I looked back over at where the swarm had fallen to see Ava slowly standing up, wincing as she clutched her shoulder.

"Yeah, well, I don't like criminals, so we're even." I replied, climbing to my feet. I felt Kira do the same behind me, her hands raised as she kept her gaze locked on the second swarm. Ava rolled her eyes and raised her hand, sending a purple plasma blast my way. I dodged it, using one hand to pull Kira to the side as well to avoid the blast, before turning around and sending a blast of lightning her way. Unfortunately, by time I turned back, she had already become a swarm once again and flown out of my range.

"I hope the others are doing a little better than we are." I mentioned to Kira, frustrated with how little damage we were doling out.

**Charlotte's POV**

I dropped to my knees, throwing my head back as a green laser beam shot right through where my head had been, watching as it narrowly missed taking me out right then and there. Papa was engaged with Marcus already, using his laser spheres to fend Marcus off of me. Marcus was clearly very confident in his powers, the cocky smirk on his face never fading even once during the fight.

I watched as he charged at my father with super speed, Papa only just barely able to fend him off with his super strength. I quickly pushed myself to my feet and leapt back into the fight, not wanting my father to have to fight him alone. I lunged at him, intending to use my bionic strength to take him out, but Marcus was faster and stronger than I was, catching my fists at the last second. He grinned at me before kneeing me hard in the stomach. I dropped to the ground like a stone, winded, as Marcus stood over me.

"Such a waste." He commented, looking down at me. I watched as his eyes turned green, and, realizing I had no chance to escape, closed my eyes tightly. The laser blast never came though, and I heard a loud grunt above me. Opening my eyes, I saw Papa tussling with Marcus, having thrown him to the ground.

"Not her." Papa growled protectively, putting himself between Marcus and I. He raised a hand and created an energy sphere in the palm of his hand. He shot it at Marcus, who dodged it, but Papa had clearly been expecting him to do that; he'd already created another energy sphere in his hands and shot it towards Marcus while the android was still preoccupied with the first one. The energy sphere hit Marcus in the shoulder and knocked him back a step, but otherwise did no damage.

Marcus glanced at his shoulder where it had hit, then turned back to Papa and I with a cocky smirk. "Is that the best you've got?"

**Emily's POV**

"You're a liar!" I shouted, shooting three short bursts from my plasma gun at Reese, angry. How dare she try and trick us like that? How dare she say my father was dead?!

"Oh, poor little Emily lost her daddy. Guess you know how it feels." Reese sneered, easily avoiding the blasts. I glared at her. "I lost my father when I was your age, you know? Dani Short murdered him."

"Short Circuit is a hero who saved the world from his terror." I growled. Darius had told me the same thing, and I wasn't too happy with my mother's explanation for it, but Dani was still family to us, and I wasn't about let Reese use something else to upset me. I realized that was her strategy here, to use my emotions against me. Well, that could work both ways. "And besides, it sounds like he was pretty easy to take out, you know? I mean, she'd only had her powers for, like, a year. He seems pretty pathetic to me."

"Oh, I'll show you what's pathetic." She growled before lunging at me, transforming into a swarm as she did. I fell back, my butt hitting the ground as she sped right through where my head had been. I shot at her as she went, sending four blasts into the center of her swarm. All of them missed as she twisted and created holes in her own swarm to avoid them, but this at least gave me a chance to regain my footing.

I now understood why my parents' had had such a hard time dealing with the swarms. They were near impossible to hit, and only a very few abilities could manage to get a real hit in. Abilities that few of us had, and the ones that did were occupied with the non-swarm criminals here today.

I lost sight of Reese's swarm in the fog, so I turned to see if I could help Noah. He and Lexi were sparring a few feet away, their movements so fast that I could barely make out their individual figures. "Noah!" I shouted, trying to get his attention. Suddenly, he flew out of the fight, stumbling back several feet with a bruise forming on his face. I winced sympathetically - I hadn't meant to distract him, only get his attention - but him being separate from Lexi did give me a clear shot. I raised my plasma gun and aimed to shoot her in the back as she zoomed towards Noah, only for something heavy to hit me from behind.

"Ow!" I hit the ground hard, landing on my side with Reese reforming above me.

"Pathetic." She sneered. I stared up at her for a second before scrambling for my plasma gun. It had been knocked out of my hand when she'd hit me, and was no longer in my reach. "Don't worry kid, you'll see your dad soon."

She raised her hand, a plasma ball glowing in it, ready to strike me down for good. But just as she went to shoot it, something blasted her from behind, an amber glow shining from behind just before the blast hit. She hit the ground next to me with a groan, clearly in pain. I didn't have time to ask who had blasted her or even thank my lucky, lucky stars that they'd blasted her at the right time; I just pushed myself onto my knees and climbed on top of her, one hand pulling a pair of power-nullifying cuffs out of my jacket pocket, grateful that I always kept a pair on me.

I had just managed to cuff one hand when Lexi was suddenly slamming into me, knocking me off of her friend. Noah came to my aid just as Lexi pulled an annoyed looking Reese to her feet.

"What was that?" Reese demanded, glancing at Lexi. I looked at Noah, wondering if he knew who'd blasted Reese, but he looked as suspicious as I was. None of the others had blasts that looked like that, nor were any of our weapons set to fire blasts of that color (Mom always said that blue sold better than any other color, something about stockbrokers thinking it was more high tech than colors like red or black).

"What was what?" Another voice called, coming from our left in the fog. Out stepped Kameron and Kira, both looking tired and a little roughed up, but mostly unhurt.

"I don't suppose you've seen Thing 1 and Thing 2? We lost them in the fog." Kira complained as she and her brother walked over to our side, keeping them glares locked on Lexi and Reese. At my and Noah's confused looks, she sighed. "Was our mom the only one to insist we watch super old kids movies growing up?"

"We're right here." Almost like villains from a melodramatic film noir from, like, a hundred years ago, Ava and Aaron stepped out of the smoke, one on either side of Reese and Lexi. I scowled when I saw my former friend. "Hey Emily, sorry about you and Darius."

"Oh, shut up, Ava." Kameron rolled his eyes. I offered him a small smile before turning my attention back to the criminals in front of me.

"You know, this is the part that makes sense. You were always mooching off of Charlotte and I." I hummed, smiling cruelly at Ava. "Anyone else would have taken off ages ago, once they realized they weren't at our level."

Ava's retort, which most likely would have been something witty and cold, was cut off by Lexi's watch beeping. She looked down at it in surprise, then at Reese in warning.

"What was that?" I demanded. Lexi gave us a smirk.

"You're too late to diffuse the bomb. T-minus ten seconds and counting." She announced before turning to Reese. "Every villain for themselves."

"What?" Reese demanded, reaching for Lexi, only for the bionic criminal to disappear, geoleaping away.

"Get out of here." I turned to Noah. He stared at me, confused. "With your speed, you can get out of range in time."

"No way, I'm not abandoning you guys." He refused. I gave him a look, but it occurred to me that we were out of time.

4...3...2...1...

**Kameron's POV**

"Oh god." Kira murmured, paling as Emily tried to convince her cousin to save himself. Ava, Aaron, and Reese all exchanged worried looks - clearly, their plan had been to either get away before they ran out of time, or to geoleap away with Lexi, who'd abandoned them like the coward she was - and now, they didn't know what to do. "What do we do?"

"I don't know." I said back, shaking my head. It was possible, depending on the kind of blast, that Kira might survive - pyrokinetics were more durable to most explosions, thanks to their invulnerability to fire - and if Charlotte was able to use her force field in time, she would be okay too, and maybe Leo as well, so at least they would stand a chance. As for the rest of us...wait.

Shouldn't the explosion gone off by now?

"Uh, Emily?" I glanced at our team's technological genius. "It's been more than ten seconds, right?"

"It has." She said cautiously, eyeing the shapeshifters suspiciously. Reese had pulled out a holophone and was looking at something on it suspiciously. "Let me guess, the bomb was a diversion?"

"Please." Reese rolled her eyes, scowling at what she saw on the screen. "That Saturn...he gave the codes to disable it, didn't he?" She demanded, ticked off. I hesitated, then glanced back at the others.

"Uh, did he?" I'd missed that part of the debrief. But Ava answered before any of them could.

"He didn't know the codes, remember? Lexi didn't trust him with them, said he was a coward who'd probably talk at the first chance." She commented.

"Ironic, seeing as she's the one who ran." Aaron scowled. Reese looked at Ava, then scowled.

"I'm going to kill that kid when I find him." She muttered. Emily stepped forward, eyes narrowing at the shapeshifter.

"You'll never get the chance." She growled. She glanced back at us. "Let's finish this. We can worry about Lexi and whoever disabled that bomb later." She told us. I smiled.

"After you, girl genius." I encouraged.

"Bring it on." Ava snapped before transforming into her swarm. Reese and Aaron followed her lead, combining their swarm and hovering above us threateningly.

"Anyone got any ideas?" Kira questioned. Suddenly, an amber blast collided with the swarm, seeming to come out of nowhere.

"Where is that coming from?" Noah turned half around, trying to find the source. Another blast came out, hitting the swarm as well. Emily's eyes widened.

"It doesn't matter. They're too big to maneuver the way they were before. Start blasting." She told us, swiping her plasma gun off the ground and aiming it at the swarm, firing almost immediately. Kira and I exchanged looks, then together, shot streams of lightning and fire into the swarm. Combined with the blasts from Emily's blaster and the blasts from the mysterious source, we brought Reese, Ava, and Aaron crashing down onto the ground.

They reformed into themselves as they hit the ground, stunned from the onslaught of our attacks. Noah quickly sped forward, cuffing each of them with power-nullifying cuffs before they could recover enough to attack. He left Ava and Aaron on the ground, still dazed, but threw Reese up the nearby brick wall.

"Now, you were saying something about our parents?" He questioned, glaring at her.

**Ben's POV**

"Alright, that's it!" Catastrophe had finally had enough of the back and forth, and frankly, I was glad that he had. It wasn't that solid of a plan, and while it was tiring Catastrophe out, it was also taking a lot out of me as well. "I'm done playing games."

"Oh yeah? You actually going to try now?" I called, trying to hide how breathless I was. Naomi glanced at me, concern in her gaze. I'd so far taken the brunt of the fight, while she'd managed to only shoot from far enough away to avoid getting hurt.

"Yeah, I am." He smirked at me, then lunged. But instead of going for me, like he had been this entire time, he lunged at Naomi. Not expecting it, Naomi didn't have time to get out of his reach, and he pulled her to his chest, one arm around her neck.

"Let her go, Catastrophe." I growled stepping forward a step. He smirked.

"Not gonna happen. Hey, space boy!" He called. "You wanna take the Normo out?"

I turned in time to see Jupiter step away from Seraphina, who was lying on the ground, having just taken a hit herself. I watched as Jupiter created a Calderan energy ball in his hand, and prepared to throw it at Naomi.

"No!" I threw myself at him, taking him down to the ground before he could hurt her. I punched him hard across the face, using more strength than I thought I still had to knock him out and keep him down.

"Naomi, get down!" I heard Sera shout. I looked over my shoulder in time to see Naomi drop to her knees, becoming a dead weight in Catastrophe's arms to force him to drop her. The moment she did, Sera blasted Catastrophe in the face with a cryoblast.

Naomi, now out of danger, pushed herself away from Catastrophe and picked her blaster up, prepared to step in to help, but Sera didn't let up in her attack. She continued going until Catastrophe was frozen solid.

"Whoa." I murmured, staring at the fully frozen figure of Catastrophe. I looked at Seraphina, who looked just as surprised as I felt.

"I guess I had a lot of pent up power." She commented, sounding a little tired. I nodded.

"I guess so." I agreed, impressed.

"I guess it's a good thing I let you use it all up on him." Jupiter commented. We turned to see the Calderan back on his feet. I stepped forward to handle it, but so did Sera.

"Let me." She insisted. I glanced at Naomi, and she nodded, so I stepped back, allowing Seraphina to handle the situation.

"I've been kicking your ass all day, sweetheart. You should just give up now." He warned her. She just gave him a tired look.

"How could you do this, become this? You're Calderan." She shook her head in disgust. "We're supposed to be heroes, warriors in the name of good. And yet, here you are, aligned with people who'd do anything to take over the world."

"Because I refuse to be on the losing side. Caldera's done for. The Venusians are going to win." He retorted. "Helping these idiots was my ticket to the winning side."

"How so?" Sera questioned. I glanced at Naomi, remembering our theory about the identity of Lexi's benefactor. Jupiter smirked.

"Who do you think financed our mission here?" He questioned. Sera's eyes widened.

"You're working with the Venusians." She realized in horror. Her face darkened. "You're a traitor to our people!"

"Our people?" He repeated with a dark laugh. "You're barely half-Calderan."

I growled, and moved to step forward, but Naomi grabbed my arm, stopping me.

"At least I'm loyal." Seraphina replied coolly.

"At least I'll survive." Jupiter sneered. Sera finally had enough and raised her hand to blast him full of ice, but to her surprise, all she managed to do was produce a couple of ice cubes. "Oh, all out of juice?"

Jupiter raised a hand, an energy blast forming in his hand, but before he could, he was blasted in the chest by a light blue blast and was knocked back hard. I looked to my left to see Naomi holding her blaster aimed at him, the end of the barrel still lit up from the blast.

"Sorry." She apologized to Sera. "Figured you were done."

Sera offered her a small smile before pulling out a pair of power nullifying cuffs and turning back towards Jupiter.

**Charlotte's POV**

Papa went for Marcus first, an energy sphere forming in his hand as he lunged. He shot it at Marcus, but like before, it barely did anything. Luckily, Papa followed that through with a punch to the face. Marcus took it, but that was because he knew my father only had super strength in two of his limbs, while Marcus was full strength. He punched Papa in the gut in return, hardly even flinching from Papa's blow, and followed his own punch with a kick to the same area. Papa bent over, but pushed himself into Marcus, using his weight to knock the android off balance.

I lunged at Marcus, spinning around at the last second to kick him in the face. He grabbed my ankle at the last minute, twisting it painfully.

"Ah!" I cried out as he twisted it near the point of breaking, and I struggled to pull away.

"Charlie, down!" Papa shouted, standing in front of me and raising his hand. I let the leg that was still on the ground buckle, forcing Marcus down. I saw the brief flash of green in Marcus' eyes, and I realized he'd been about to hit me with his laser vision, but before he could, Papa sent a laser sphere at his head. Marcus had to release me to avoid it, and I managed to scramble away, my ankle throbbing.

Papa's laser sphere hit Marcus in the face, and though it only managed to blind Marcus for a quick second, Papa didn't relent. He lunged at Marcus, fist clenched, and clocked him in the head before Marcus could recover.

However, before Papa could knock him out or get any other real hits in, Marcus hit him in the chest with what looked like a giant ball of electricity. The blast threw Papa away from him, my father landing, hurt, at my feet.

"Papa!" I cried, dropping to my knees. He groaned in pain, but was thankfully awake and hopefully not badly injured. I looked back up at Marcus, who was walking towards us with that obnoxious, cocky grin on his face. Oh, how was I ever attracted to him?

I got to my feet before he could attack again, and threw a large plasma ball at him. To my surprise, he caught it before it hit him, using one of his abilities to levitate it between the palms of his hands without getting hurt, eyebrows raised. "I see they gave you Chase's bionics instead of Leo's. Probably a good idea - I don't know what Calla or my dad were thinking; giving that wimp bionics was such a waste."

"Yeah, well, I did get some things from my Papa." I retorted, raising a hand and creating an energy sphere. It wasn't an ability I used very often - I preferred the plasma shield/balls - but it was one I certainly knew how to use. Marcus laughed in surprise when he saw the energy sphere.

"Energy spheres are not even close to being as powerful as plasma spheres." He told me, shaking his head like I was a silly child. I smirked.

"True." I agreed, taking a step back to get into a better position. "But do you know what happens when you mix a plasma ball with an energy sphere?"

For the first time, I watched the smile drop from his face. He tried to throw the plasma ball back at me, but it was too late - I'd already pitched the energy sphere at him, baseball-style. It collided with the plasma ball inches from Marcus' face. I raised my hands just in time to create a plasma force field around Papa and I just as the energy sphere and the plasma ball's contact created a massive explosion.

My force field was only partially up when the explosion happened, so we were still knocked back pretty far, but it protected us enough to save us from the explosion.

We hit the ground harder than I would have liked as the explosion lit up the foggy area with a bright white light that briefly blinded me. When the light died down enough that my retinas no longer felt like they were burning, I could just make out my father's figure in front of me.

"Charlie? Charlotte, are you okay?" He asked, his voice echoing oddly, like I was underwater.

"Papa?" I asked, my ears ringing from the explosion.

"Are you alright?" He asked again. My ears popped at the last syllable of 'alright', and suddenly, I could hear better.

"Yeah. Ow." I complained, bringing my hand to my head. It came away red and sticky.

"It's okay, it's not that bad." Papa assured me, looking at the head wound. "You know what they say about head wounds."

"Where's Marcus?" I asked, sitting up fully. I looked past Papa, where a pile of smoking, lumpy clothes lay. An android arm lay limply, hanging out of the shirt.

"Uh..." Papa blinked in surprise, surveying the scorched ground around us. If it hadn't been for my force field, we'd probably be dead.

"Did I destroy Marcus?" I asked, stunned. Papa opened his mouth to reply, then closed it, seeming just as shocked as I was.

"Hey, are you guys alright? We saw the light-oh." Kira broke through the quickly dissipating fog but stopped short when she saw what was left of my android ex (a phrase I will never get over). "Is that..."

"Marcus, yeah." I nodded in agreement, slowly getting to my feet with Papa's help. "Did you guys get the others?"

"Oh, yeah." Kira stepped aside and past her, I could see the others gathering a group sullen-looking and handcuffed criminals in front of the Explority building. Reese, Ava, Aaron, and Jupiter were in the center, all looking furious and utterly defeated.

"Where are Catastrophe and Lexi?" I questioned.

"Lexi got away. Geoleaped before the bomb was supposed to go off." Noah called to us from where he was standing in front of Reese. He looked a little roughed up, but overly pleased with how things had turned out. "As for Catastrophe..."

"He's on ice for the time being." Ben joked, jerking his thumb at a frozen statue of Catastrophe. Kira gave him a look.

"You didn't just say that." She groaned. He rolled his eyes, then grinned at Naomi, but she was too busy focusing on her Davenwatch to notice.

"When the bomb was supposed to go off." Papa repeated it. He looked at Emily. "You disabled it in time?"

"Actually, I didn't disable it." Emily shook her head. I looked at her, catching onto her tone.

"Did any of us?" I questioned, looking around. Judging by the blank looks on everyone's faces, the answer was no. "Then did they mess up the wiring or something?"

"Not according to Reese here. She thinks it was someone else." Noah commented, looking down at Reese. She rolled her eyes and pointedly looked away. "Not feeling so talkative now, huh?"

"Who then?" I questioned.

"I'm guessing the same person who helped us shoot these guys down." Kameron nudged Ava with his shoe. She kicked her leg out at him, and he jumped back and raised his hand, sparks coming off of his fingertips. "Try it, Mystique. I'm ready."

"Someone else was shooting?" Papa questioned suspiciously. Kira nodded.

"And, if the angle of trajectory is correct, then it came..." Naomi looked at her Davenwatch one more time to double check her math before turning and pointing into the distance, "...from that rooftop."

Emily and I exchanged looks, silently agreeing to check it out.

**Emily's POV**

I climbed the fire escape as quickly as I could, but by the time I got to the roof, it was empty, not a living soul in sight. "What?" I mumbled to myself as I fully climbed onto the roof and looked around. The entire roof was empty, save for something behind the stair entrance that was creating a long shadow across the cold roof. Ignoring the sounds of Charlotte and Ben following up the ladder, I ran around the stair entrance to see what had caused the shadow.

A long-barreled blaster was leaning against the stair enclosure, a familiar, dark blue sweater hanging off of it. I grabbed the jacket, recognizing it instantly.

"Is that Darius'?" Charlotte's voice came from behind me. I glanced at her briefly before looking back at the sweater. "Is he here?"

"I don't...I don't know." I mumbled, looking over the sweater.

"Darius was the one shooting? Are we sure?" Ben questioned, also coming up behind me. "Was he the one who disabled the bomb?"

"He must have; Reese did imply that Saturn was the only one who didn't know the codes to do it remotely." Charlotte replied. I'd stopped listening by this point, as I'd discovered something in the sweater's pocket. I reached in and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper. I unfolded it to find a message written on one side, in Darius' small, neat handwriting.

_I believe in you._

_\- D_

"What does it say?" Ben questioned, noticing the note in my hand. I sniffed, feeling tears well up in the corner of my eyes. When I turned back to them, his expression softened. "Emily?"

"It was him. It was Darius." I confirmed. If I thought my heart had broken earlier, it was shattering now. "He's gone."

**Ben's POV**

When Calla finally stopped, the room was filled with a heavy silence as the kids absorbed what she had told them. The moment we'd walked through the door to the Penthouse, Emily and Noah had told the others what Lexi and Reese had told them about their parents, and after hearing about Jupiter's confession, they'd demanded that Calla and Leo tell them everything they'd been hiding. They'd been reluctant to do it, but they told them everything they knew about the Venusians, Lexi's secret benefactor, and what little they knew about the Elite Force's whereabouts.

Eventually, Kira broke the silence.

"So, they might be dead?" She asked, her voice breaking, tears already streaming down her cheeks. Calla gently placed one of her hands on Kira's knee, the other reaching for Emily. Her daughter pulled back though, tightening her grip on Helix, who was sitting quietly in her lap. She rested her chin on his upper back, teary-eyed.

"We don't know that yet, not for sure. They could very well be alive and unhurt." She told the kids gently. She shook her head. "This is why we didn't tell you. I didn't want to burden you with this until we knew for sure."

"But there's a chance." Noah mumbled, voice rough. Calla glanced at Leo and Katherine, then nodded sadly. "You should have told us."

"I was trying to protect you guys." Calla explained.

"Yeah, well, look how that's worked out so far." Emily snapped. Calla looked at her. "This isn't the first time you've lied to protect us and it end up with us being worse off than we would have been."

"Emily." Katherine chided.

"But it's true!" Emily protested, raising her head. "You should have told us about Marcus, and Lexi and Sebastian, and Reese, and everyone else. You didn't, and we could have been killed because we didn't know what to expect!"

"That's not helping, Emily." Naomi said. Emily shot her a look, but Calla raised her hand to stop everyone.

"You're right. Emily, you are right. And I'm sorry." She apologized, sounding genuinely regretful for what they'd done. "But we did what we thought was best. Parents make mistakes too."

"Yeah, well..." Emily looked away, biting the inside of her cheek to stop her retort.

"Do you think they're dead?" Seraphina asked, looking up at Calla. Calla shook her head.

"No, I don't." She answered with a reassuring smile. "What you guys fought today, that was only a fraction of what your parents have faced over the years, and they have always, always, come back alive. They're still fighting, I know it."

"I'm going to lead a mission to save them, as soon as Davenport Industries finish our space craft." I added. The kids all turned to face me. "I promise you, I'm going to find your parents and bring them home to you. I promise."

"We're going with." Emily said firmly. Calla shook her head.

"Absolutely not." She refused.

"But Calla-" Seraphina argued.

"No buts. It's my job to keep you guys safe, and there is no chance in hell that I'm sending you on that kind of mission. No way."

"But that's not fair!" Charlotte retorted.

"It's not happening." Leo insisted, siding with Calla.

"But they're our moms and dads!" Kameron argued. The kids all started protesting, voices raising in volume until Calla finally stood up.

"QUIET!" She shouted. Every single person in the room shut up, not expecting her to yell. "You are not going on this mission, end of story."

"But-" Kameron started to argue again, but Calla stopped him with a cold glare.

"End. Of. Story." She said slowly, enunciating each word for effect. Emily stood up and Calla raised her chin, expecting her daughter to start a fight.

Instead, Emily addressed her very calmly. "I want to get MISS to start looking for Darius and Lexi. He could be in trouble, and she is trouble. May I leave to go do that?"

Calla nodded. "You may." She agreed. Emily nodded stiffly and led Helix towards the hyperlift. "As for the rest of you, you should get some rest. It's been a long day."

Almost everyone left, grumbling or frustrated. I sighed, wishing it could have been different. They'd had a huge win today; they should be celebrating, instead of finding out this kind of news.

"Can I talk to you?" Naomi questioned, walking past me without waiting for a response. I frowned but followed her out onto the veranda.

"Is everything okay?" I asked. Unlike the kids, she'd already known what we did about her family and the others' parents, and I didn't know what could be wrong, other than that.

"You have to stop doing that." She told me, turning around. She looked upset, but I couldn't figure out what she meant.

"Doing what?" I asked slowly, wondering what I'd missed. She sighed in annoyance. "Look, whatever it is, I'll stop, but I can't do that if you don't tell me what you're upset about."

"The fight, earlier. Tackling Jupiter like that..." She shook her head. "You're not invulnerable anymore, Ben! That blast could have killed you!"

"Could have, maybe. But it didn't even hit me. And it would have killed you if I hadn't done anything." I argued, a little annoyed. I wasn't expecting her to be grateful that I saved her life - Naomi never had to say thank you for that, not to me - but I also didn't expect to be criticized for it.

"I know that, but I don't want to see you hurt on my account." She told me. I shook my head.

"And I don't want to see you hurt because I didn't do anything." I pointed out. She shook her head. "Look, Naomi, I'm not going to stop trying to save you just because of what Saturn did to me."

"I don't want you doing that for me!" She snapped, breathing hard. I shook my head.

"I'm not going to lose you like that!" I snapped.

"Well, I can't lose you either!" She shouted, stepping closer to me. I hesitated, and she dropped her face into her hands. After a moment, she finally spoke. "I need you to promise me something."

"I can't promise that." I told her. She shook her head, not lifting it from her hands.

"No, something else." She sighed and looked up at me. "I...I need you to promise me...promise me that I won't lose you, no matter what happens. I won't lose you."

"Naomi..." I trailed off. I wanted to promise her that, I did, but the truth was, anything could happen out there. She looked at me.

"I mean it, Ben. I-I can't lose you. You're my best friend. I don't know what I'd do without you in my life." She told me, on the verge of tears. "Promise me that no matter what happens, I won't lose you, and you'll always be here in my life."

"I promise I'll try." I eventually settled on. She frowned, not loving my answer. "I can't predict the future, Naomi. I don't know anyone who has that power. But I will try my damnedest to make sure that I stay. As long as I'm still breathing, you're stuck with me, alright? That I can promise."

She licked her lips, considering my answer, and then she did the last thing I expected her to do: she kissed me.

Naomi pulled me close, one hand reaching into my hair to push my head down towards hers, and her lips met mine, moving desperately against mine. I kissed her back, soaking in the moment while I had it.

After a moment, she broke away, leaving me completely breathless. "Good." She murmured, looking at me with those big, beautiful brown eyes of hers. "Because I want this. I want you, Ben, but I can't lose what we have. I can't lose you. I don't know if I'd survive it."

I found myself smiling. "You won't even have to find out. Like I said, you're stuck with me." I assured her. She smiled back.

"Good." She said again before pulling me in for another kiss.

**Kameron's POV**

"Kameron! Kameron!" I woke to the sound of someone whispering my name, a hand on my shoulder shaking me awake. Opening my eyes, I found Charlotte leaning over me, her forehead still bandaged from earlier.

"Charlotte?" I hummed in confusion. Not the worst way to wake up, but given that nothing had happened between us since that mistletoe kiss that Emily, Justine, and my sister had orchestrated almost two weeks ago (though it seemed like it was ages ago), I had to admit, I was surprised to see her in my room in the middle of the night. "What's going on? Is it Lexi?"

"No, team meeting in Mission Command." She explained quietly. I turned to glance at the time and saw Noah already up, pulling a t-shirt over his head.

"It's...3:09 AM." I said dumbly. She rolled her eyes.

"I know. C'mon." She murmured before getting up and slipping out of the room.

"Might as well see what's up." Noah sighed, stepping out of the room. I threw off my covers and followed him and Charlotte down to Mission Command. Emily, Seraphina, and Kira were already down there, waiting for us. Kira and Sera both looked like they'd been woken up recently, same as Noah and I, but Emily was wide awake, dressed in a tank top, a pair of sweatpants, and Darius' dark blue sweater. I took one look at the concentrated look on the technopath's face, and suddenly, I knew exactly why she'd woken us all up.

"So, I take it this meeting is about how we're going to secretly go to Venusia to save our parents?" I voiced my guess aloud. The others, minus Charlotte, looked surprised, not having come to that conclusion themselves. But judging by the slow smiles that came to all of their faces, everyone in the room was in agreement with the plan. Emily looked at each of our faces, pleased with our reactions, then smiled herself.

"Who wants to help me steal a spaceship from my mother?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ben, Naomi, Kira, Kameron, Emily, Charlotte, Noah, and Seraphina will return in Legacies: To Venusia and Beyond


End file.
